I Would Know You Anywhere
by donelys3
Summary: This is the story that brings Sean and Tiffany Donely back to Port Charles/"General Hospital." Other characters include their daughter Maren, Sean's assistant Ellie, WSB agent Royce Stanton, Robert Scorpio, Scott Baldwin and Robin and Noah Drake.
1. Chapter 1

This is my very first attempt at this, I have a lot of ideas for this  
story and I hope I can present them in an interesting and coherent  
matter. Enjoy!

---------------------------

"Everyone puts your hands up!"

Tiffany instinctively clutched her daughter, who was standing just  
ahead of her on the bank line. A couple of minutes ago, Maren had been  
teasing her mother about her latest shopping spree. But now the  
14-year-old, who looked more like 24 with long flowing hair like her  
mother's (although brown like her father's), was trembling in her  
designer high-topped sneakers.

There were four of them. Each of them were carrying some serious  
artillery, loaded down in camouflage gear that made them look like  
they were in the middle of a jungle, not a Boston bank.

"I said up!" one of them said as he approached the Donely women.  
Tiffany reluctantly drew away from her daughter and put her hands in  
the air.

One of the men crossed over from the doorway. "OK, people. We don't  
have much time." He shot an intimidating glass over to the teller.  
"The police have been alerted, so we need to be ready when they get  
here. Everybody over there." He gestured to an alcove tucked away from  
the windows and the tellers. The hostages – customers and bank  
employees alike -- moved swiftly to where he pointed.

"Very good. If you all follow instructions the way you just did, no  
one will be hurt. Who is in charge here?"

The best dressed man in the bank stepped forward. "I am."

"You, over here," the man in charge bellowed.

"We don't have access to the money, it comes out of the machine when  
we process transactions and now that, as you said, the police have  
been alerted, we can't do that."

"I know that. I'm not here for your nickels and dimes. Take me down to  
the vaults."

"I can't get in there now either."

"I know that. Just show me the way."

"Yes, sir," the bank manager said, trying to remain calm in the way he  
had been trained to by the company.

Sean Donely was poring over papers in his office. The chief of police  
would never admit he was bored by the way he had settled into the job  
with all its bureaucracy, but he never got tired of making sure the  
bad guys got put away.

A knock came at the door.

"Yes?" he said with slight exasperation.

Ellie Jamison walked in. The plain 40-something woman had been Sean's  
assistant since he took over the department and could tell in a second  
what mood he was in and how she would have to deal with it.

"Robbery in progress, sir."

"Where?"

"First National."

"We'd better get there quick. I have a lot of money tucked away there."

"I know, sir. Captain Reynolds is heading to the scene. He said he'll  
give us a full report as soon as possible."

"That's fine. Did you order lunch yet?"

"Not yet, sir."

"Ellie, you've been working for me for over a decade. Can't we cut the  
'sir' stuff?"

"I try, s… but it's just the way I was brought up, Mr. Donely."

Sean scowled amusingly. "I'll have the usual."

"Yes, sir." She rolled her eyes at the failed attempt to stop saying  
it and exited. "I'll call up the police department video from the  
scene on the computer and pipe into yours right away."

"I can always count on you to do it before I asks, Ellie."

Ellie exited. Sean sat back in his chair, thought for a moment about  
the bank where the robbery was going down and picked up the phone. He  
hit the automatic dial for 'Wife."

Terry O'Connor's "I'll Always Love You" ring tone on Tiffany's phone  
began to play. Although she was across the room from the phone, she  
recognized it as her own and realized it must be Sean.

"That's Dad," Maren said, a little too loudly.

Tiffany hushed her. "I know. Sweetheart, I don't want you telling  
anyone who your father is," she said in a very low voice.

"But why?"

"I think it could only hurt. You're my daughter. Maren Hill. That's  
all these hoodlums need to know."

"OK." Maren paused for a second. "Do you think he'll come out here?"

"It depends on how this plays out, I think. If they get what they want  
and are out of here, we probably won't see him until we have to go  
give our statements."

Maren knew there was more. "But?"

"But, somehow I don't think it's going to be that simple."

As if on cue, the ring leader appeared before the hostages, pulling  
the bank manager by the arm. He looked roughed up.

"All right, what do we have here, 4?" he said, addressing the thug who  
was sifting through the belongings. "Not much so far. Some of the  
phones have been ringing, guess we're not a secret any longer."

"Papa Was a Rolling Stone" started to reverberate out of Maren's  
phone. The Donely women looked over in that direction, then at each  
other.

"Dad," Maren said softly.

"That is the world's worst ringtone. Your father is nothing like  
that," Tiffany said, partly out of her usual exasperation at how  
father and daughter had become a two-man team against her and partly  
to keep Maren's spirits up.

"It's a good song."

"Hmmmm," Tiffany replied.

The ring leader picked up Maren's phone and smashed it. "I hate the oldies."

Henchman 4 walked over with a list of names culled from the belongings  
of the hostages. Ring leader perused it, counting up that number and  
then taking a head count of those in the bank. "We seem to be one  
short."

"My daughter is only 14, she doesn't carry ID, beyond the phone you  
just smashed," Tiffany said.

"A comedienne … great," the ring leader said. "Actually you look  
familiar to me."

"She should, she's a world-famous broadcast journalist," Maren said.

Not used to hearing her daughter say something borderline  
complimentary, Tiffany's face briefly registered her surprise.  
Henchman 4 gave the ring leader her wallet.

"Ah, Tiffany Hill. Yes, I'm familiar with your work. And this is your  
daughter…" he said, leaving an opening for her response.

"Maren," Tiffany replied.

"Maren Hill?" the ring leader inquired.

"Of course," she responded. Neither mother nor daughter flinched.


	2. Chapter 2

The ring leader was wrapping up a phone conversation with the negotiating team.

"That's right. Fifteen people in here and each and every one of their lives is now dependent on the way you behave. So don't depart from police procedure or there is gonna be a lot more paperwork to do … in the morgue."

The hostages all tensed up. Tiffany again reflexively reached for her daughter. Henchman 3 shook his head at her as she did, pointing his weapon her way. Her hands withdrew in opposition to every other instinct in her body. But she knew enough from personal experience that this wasn't the time or place to test these people. She thought of her husband, tried to think of what he would do in this situation. Probably something heroic that would save dozens of lives at the risk of his own, she thought. She tried to put that aside by wondering what these men were up to. This didn't seem like a garden-variety bank robbery, they weren't taking money or anything else. They must be after something else. But what?

Sean fiddled with his wedding ring at his desk. He couldn't reach his wife or daughter by phone, but that wasn't really that unusual. In the bowels of a Boston mall, up to their necks in packages, they wouldn't be likely to answer the phone, if they had a connection at all. And even though that had happened dozens of times before, he still had a bad feeling about this one.

Ellie knocked very lightly at the door, almost hoping she wouldn't be asked in.

"Yeah, Ellie, come in."

Ellie walked in and took about three or four steps into the room.

"Did Reynolds call from the scene?"

"Yes," she said in about as faint a whisper as possible.

"How many hostages?"

"Fifteen," she managed to eke out.

"Does he want me to come down there?"

Ellie nodded. She knew she had to tell him, but she couldn't get the words to come out. She pointed weakly at the framed photo on his desk of Sean with his wife and daughter. "They're there."

"They who?" Sean looked up, quizzically. When he saw Ellie's pale countenance, he knew the answer. Every muscle in his body tensed and he sprang out of his chair, grabbing his coat off the back.

"I'll stay here," Ellie said. "Call me if I can do anything. … if you … if anything happens."

Sean nodded briskly as he exited. Ellie leaned back against the chair and looked over to the photos of the Donelys in a much happier time. "Please," she pleaded to no one in particular.

Reynolds looked over the list of hostages and the list of negotiations he had procured from the person he presumed was currently running things inside in the bank. There were 15 hostages and five things on the list that he wanted the police to procure. In theory, they would receive one of the hostages for each of the demands that were met.

He looked again at the hostage list. Tiffany and Maren's names popped out at him.

"Smart lady," he said pointing down to where Maren's last name was listed as Hill. "If the bad guys knew they had members the police chief's family among their hostages, it would be an even bigger trump card they could play at will. … You better keep your hands off of them if you know what's good for you," he thought aloud.

"What was that, Reynolds?" asked a nearby officer.

"Nothing. … Let's get those first items on the list to the front door ASAP. The standard hostage top five."

"What do these guys do, get a handbook when they start to plan something like this?" the uniformed officer replied.

"Hope you get the wisecracks out of your system before Chief Donely gets here, Simmons. Just line up the food and other supplies they asked for and some plainclothes officers in bullet-proof vests to take them to the door."

"Yes, sir."

From inside the bank, the ring leader peeked through a blind at the squad cars.

"Everything seems to proceeding as planned," he said more for his own benefit more than anyone else's. "We'll be letting five of you go in about 15 minutes."

"You," he said, pointing to a pregnant lady who had been standing in front of Tiffany and Maren in line. "We'll send the bank manager out too, his ugly face should prove to the cops out there that we mean business."

Another alarm went off in Tiffany's head. If they were going to show to the police that they were willing to hurt innocent people in the process, this wasn't going to just be over in a couple of hours. She wanted more than anything in the world for them to say Maren could be the next person to walk out the door, but she knew it wouldn't happen. The ring leader knew he had a commodity in the daughter of a television broadcaster.

"You," he said, pointing to a skeevy-looking young man who seemed to be observing the bad guys' moves with a lot of interest.

"I don't mind staying," the man said.

"That's exactly why you're going. This isn't Club Med. You're not supposed to want to be here, sicko."

"I'm the sicko? I'm not the one holding people hostage."

"You're not the one who is going to kill someone who doesn't follow instructions he's given, either," the ring leader said.

"OK, I'm going, I'm going." The man put his hands over his head in dramatic fashion and started walking away from the other hostages and toward the place the ring leader was pointing out. As he passed one of the other bad guys, he tripped him and tried to grab the weapon. For his trouble, the ring leader slammed him across the jaw with his machine gun. The would-be hero crumpled to the floor in an instant.

Outside Sean Donely's black sedan screeched to a halt inches away from the police yellow tape. He jumped out of the car and worked his way through an increasing crowd of curiosity seekers to Reynolds.

"Anything yet?"

"No, boss."

"If someone hurts one hair on either of their heads, I swear I will turn in my badge and take care of them my own way," Sean said determinedly.

"It's not going to get that far," Reynolds said. "We have their list of demands, we're about to make an exchange for the first five hostages. It seems like they're going by the book so far."

"That's what worries me. Let me see the list," Sean said and Reynolds handed it over.

Inside the bank, the ring leader was smirking broadly as he again easily knocked over the pained would-be hero.

"I'm sort of glad this happened," the ring leader said. "I think all of you, and the police, were very much in need of a little example of what will happen if you don't follow our instructions to the letter. Now we have one. Get up!"

The man stumbled to his feet, then fell over again.

"Ms. Hill, if you don't mind…" the ring leader said and gestured to the victim.

Tiffany slowly rose to her feet, looking back at her daughter as she rose to help the man.

"Don't try anything."

"I'm not interested in ending up in a heap on the floor," Tiffany said.

"Excellent."

A series of loud knocks at the door interrupted. The ring leader crossed to Maren, pulled her to her feet and put his gun in the small of her back.

"Take the pregnant woman, this wreck (he pointed to the guy she was helping to his feet), the bank guard, the manager and this skittish-looking woman to the door. Get the keys from the guard and unlock the door slowly."

Tiffany tried to keep eye contact with the ring leader, but her focus kept shifting to her daughter, who was trembling.

"If they have the food, water, cell phones, blankets and a television, you can send these people out. If they don't, relock the door and everyone stays."

Tiffany did as instructed. She opened the door to five police officers carrying the items.

"Tell them to put them down and step back!" the ring leader yelled from within the bank.

Tiffany didn't have to, the officers heard and did so.

"Make sure everything is there," the ring leader bellowed.

Tiffany gingerly stepped out of the bank, she tried to scan the crowd for Sean, but didn't see him in the mass of officers and patrol cards about 1,000 feet away. She looked down at the boxes,

"Everything's here," she reported back.

"You five can go," the ring leader said and the five hostages swiftly moved past Tiffany.

"Bring those things inside the door and lock it."

Tiffany started picking up the boxes, struggling a little with the one marked water, surveying the crowd the whole time. As she picked up the blankets box, she finally Sean to her far right. She couldn't see him that closely, just a very rigid form with his hands on his hips. Tiffany took a deep breath and stepped back inside the bank, locking the big door behind her.

Sean's heart had jumped into his mouth when he saw his wife emerge for a couple of minutes. After she closed the door, Reynolds and a couple of officers rushed over to the released hostages; he had already noted Maren wasn't among them. Sean couldn't move, he didn't know what to do. He'd been involved in hundreds of hostage situations over the years, but not one in which his whole world was at risk.

He half-heartedly stepped forward to hear what the hostages had to say. The bank manager was recounting his visit to the vault that had gotten him beaten up.

"They didn't seem to want anything, they beat me up anyway," he said.

"Stall tactic," Sean said under his breath.

Reynolds was helping the would-be hero to an ambulance. "What did you think you were going to do?" the detective asked him.

"I didn't know, it seems so stupid right now that I tried to get his gun. The women … I wanted him to release the women, but the main guy, he just seemed to sense I'd be trouble."

"Is anyone else in there hurt?" Reynolds asked.

"No, they're all sitting in a group together in the corner. Lots of scared people, but the only ones who were touched at all were me and the bank manager."

Sean rubbed his hand over his five o'clock shadow. "This isn't about a bank robbery," he said.

"I think you're right, boss," Reynolds said. "It seems like a smokescreen for something bigger. But what could they want?"

"I think we're going to find out real soon."

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than a squad of cars pulled up to the scene. The seal on all the doors was the same: WSB. The limited amount of control Sean may have had over the crime scene was now gone.

"Sweetheart … Maren … hang in there. I think this is about to get bumpy," he said to himself as he walked over to the WSB throng.


	3. Chapter 3

The ring leader perused the tinfoiled submarined sandwiches in the food box. "OK, it's not that I don't trust the cops … but, I don't trust the cops. The hostages will be taste the food."

He looked over to the hostages. "You, daughter of famous TV broadcaster, come here."

"No!" Tiffany said strongly.

"So you don't trust the cops either, Ms. Hill?"

"I trust the cops," Tiffany said straight-forwardly. "But I'll do it."

"Fine."

"Mom, I…" Maren started.

"It's OK, sweetheart." Tiffany rose and waited to get permission to walk over to the box.

"Be my guest," the ring leader said.

Tiffany crossed and gingerly picked up one of the sandwiches. She unwrapped it gently, took a decidedly unladylike bite and swallowed. "Seems fine to me," she tried to say brightly. The ring leader gave her a bottle of water. "Thank you," she said in a clipped tone, opening the bottle and taking a drink.

"We'll wait a few minutes to make sure," the ring leader said, settling into one of the bank arm chairs.

Maren watched her mother with concern. She didn't know whether the police might have done something to the food, but she feared it was a possibility. And there was her mom, the person she had taken for granted for so long, stepping up seemingly without fear in her place.

Outside, Sean was renewing acquaintances with the WSB agents on hand. Since he had taken over as police chief in Boston, they had crossed paths every once in a while. Mattison was the one in charge, and he was the one Sean liked and trusted the least.

"Have they identified themselves yet"? Mattison inquired.

"No, not by name, although their actions definitely are pointing toward something more than a garden-variety bank job," Sean said.

"And your wife and daughter are among the hostages," Mattison added.

"Yes, they are," Sean said stiffly.

"Well according to World Security Bureau guidelines, you shouldn't be involved in this in any way, shape or form."

"First of all, no longer work for the WSB…

"Donely, you know no one really retires from the WSB," Mattison interrupted.

"(Ignoring him) And second of all, I'm not going anywhere."

"I figured you would say that," Mattison said. "But the WSB has jurisdiction, so if you insist on staying here…"

It was Sean's turn to interrupt. "I insist on staying here."

"…then you'll have to play it the way we say it," Mattison finished.

"Fine," Sean said, not exactly happy about the option, even though he was expecting that to be the case.

"They asked for food, water, blankets, a television and cell phones," Reynolds offered. "I understand the first four things, but what do they want cell phones for. They know that we have a direct land line into the bank and they're obviously not going to be stupid enough to use the cell phones to make personal calls."

"They asked for a specific brand of cell phone, right?" Mattison asked.

"Yes, top-of-the-line with music, video and photo capabilities," Reynolds said.

"It's for video purposes," Mattison explained. "We've been seeing a lot of this lately. They can take pictures or video of the scene and send it out to us when we require proof that the hostages are all right. The images that we'll receive will be grainy and so they're not exactly definitive when it comes to building court cases."

A couple WSB guys pulled Mattison aside. After a brief conversation, Mattison stepped back over to Sean and Reynolds. "The hostage negotiating team is in place. We're going to try and make contact."

The phone resonated loudly in the silent bank.

"Right on time," the ring leader chuckled. "Love the ol' World Security Bureau." He crossed to the phone and picked it up. "Hostage Central."

"Very funny," the negotiator said on the other end.

"Aren't you supposed to be subservient and ask me what my demands are?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir. How can I help you today?" the negotiator asked.

"We're doing all right now, all enjoying some lunch courtesy of the Boston Police Department."

"Is everyone in there all right? Does anyone need medical attention?"

"Everyone is fine right now. I hope you'll be doing everything you can to ensure they stay that way."

"Yes, of course. The phone is directly linked to me, so when you want to say something all you have to do is pick it up."

"Fine. I'll be in touch," the ring leader said cheekily before hanging up.

Over by the hostages, bad guys 2 and 3 were distributing food. 2, a rugged dirty-blonde man in a white t-shirt and blue jeans, offered a sandwich to Maren. She snatched it out of his hands without a word.

"No thank you? Who raised you?" 2 said lightly.

"None of your damn business, Mr. Manners," an angry Maren replied.

"OK," 2 said, turning to pass the next sandwich.

"Aren't you guys worried about the fact we can see your faces?" she questioned.

"I wouldn't ask questions like that if I were you," 2 said, turning back to her.

Maren studied his face the way her father taught her to when she was very young. She'd be able to give a detailed sketch of him and all the others when she had to.

"We're not afraid," 2 said.

You should be, Maren thought, looking at him. He was studying her intently, she could tell he was trying to read her mind, and probably succeeding.

"Enough with the chit-chat over there," the ring leader said. 2 turned away from her and continued to dole out the food.

Maren looked over to her mother, who shook her head in warning. She wondered what her dad was doing, thinking back to that morning when he kissed her on the head and caressed her hair as he always did. He had chided them about not maxing out the credit card, as he always did, before leaving for the day. He wished he was there now, to comfort her the way he always had when she was young and had had a nightmare. She would go to her parents' bedroom and always wake just him up by putting her hand in his. Her father would look across to make sure her mother hadn't woken up, then would ease his way out of bed and they'd walk back to her bedroom. He'd ask her what she dreamed about while gently brushing her hair and before she knew it, she'd fall back asleep. She always woke the next morning not remembering what the nightmare had been. Maren closed her eyes and wished she could do that right now.

Sean's eyes were closed too as he leaned against Mattison's car. They had nothing to go on so far. No idea of what was going on in that bank. In his head, he was imagining the most terrible scenarios.

"Donely!" Mattison said, and his eyes popped open. "We've gotten some sketches from the hostages, we're running them through the computer now."

"At least that's something."

"Have there been any other bank-related incidents in the past few weeks?" Mattison inquired.

"Nothing major that I can think of. I'll call my assistant and have her double-check the reports to make sure," Sean said.

"Fine," Mattison said and walked away.

Sean pulled out his cell phone and looked down at the address book. No. 1 on the list merely said "Wife," No. 2 "Daughter," he paused for a second, thinking about them, before hitting No. 3 "Ellie."

Ellie was sitting in the office, watching two monitors. On the left was television coverage of the event. On the right was a police view of the scene, broken into four quadrants. She had seen Sean go for his cell phone, so she wasn't surprised when the phone rang a couple seconds later.

"Yes, boss. What can I do for you?"

"The World Security Bureau wants to know of any police activity at any of the banks in the greater Boston area over the past month or so, can you run through the reports and see if anything pops up?"

"Of course. I'll call you right back." She hung up quickly, knowing that her boss' penchant for whatever results she could come up with was more important than exchanging good-byes or even queries' about how he was doing.

Ellie deftly maneuvered her way on the computer and started running a search on the Boston Police Department.


	4. Chapter 4

The police phone line blared, stopping everyone around it from talking in their tracks. The negotiator picked it up.

"Yes?"

"Let me talk to Mattison," the ring leader said.

The interrogator took the phone away from his ear, gesturing to Mattison, who swiftly moved over and picked up the receiver.

"Mattison," he said.

"Good, you're not messing around out there," the ring leader said. "As long as you give us what we want when I ask for it, this shouldn't be that complicated."

"How do you know who I am?" Mattison asked.

The ring leader looked sideways at his cohorts. "I have my sources," he said. "We do not leave anything to chance. I figure by now you're about to find out who I am, so I might as well you tell you myself," the ring leader said. "My name is Sasha Popovic and I represent a number of European countries looking to ensure our safety in this volatile world."

"How will holding a group of Americans hostages do that?" Mattison inquired.

"We're not looking to hold these people long-term, they're all fine as you will see by the video we're about to send out to you with one of the hostages," Sasha said. "We will talk after that." He hung up before Mattison could utter another word.

Sean's phone rang. "Yeah?" he asked.

"Sir, there was no other similar bank activity in the past few months, but the scan has identified the men holding the hostages in the bank. The ring leader is thought to be Sasha Popovic, leader of a renegade group of Europeans trying to up their arsenal ante. He has apparently been in three other banks in major cities in the past month, always going to a safe deposit box with a different man each time."

Sean produced a small notebook from his pocket and scratched Sasha's name out on it. As Mattison approached, he showed him the name. Mattison nodded.

"What were the other locations?"

"New York, Houston and LA, sir," Ellie responded and Sean wrote that down.

"Good job, Ellie. Do you mind hanging out there a little bit more in case I need something more?"

"No, of course not. Any word on your family yet?"

"No … no," he said softly. "I'll talk to you later, OK?"

"Wait, sir," Ellie said.

"What is it?"

"You got a phone call … from Robert Scorpio," she said.

"Where is he?"

"He said he was going to board the shuttle and be there in no time," Ellie said.

"Good, thank you, Ellie." Sean disconnected the phone and turned to Mattison. "What did he say?"

"He wants to rule the world."

"With 10 hostages?"

"I think I know what he's up to," Mattison said. "He seems to be trying to shore up his way out of the country. We just don't know why now."

"I think I have an idea," Sean said. "According to my assistant, he's been seen in three other banks. Went to safe deposit boxes and got some kind of information out of them. He might have all he needs now and he's ready to bolt. We need to question that bank manager again."

"We sent him to the hospital to tend to his injuries, but I'll send one of the uniforms after him," Mattison said.

"No, let me send Reynolds."

"That'll be fine."

Sean signaled to Reynolds as Mattison walked back to his group.

"We need more from that bank manager. Find out if Popovic or any of his cohorts were left alone in the safe deposit box area at any time. Follow that line of questioning."

"Will do," Reynolds said, hurrying away.

Back inside the bank, Sasha surveyed his hostages.

"2? Come here."

"Yes, sir." 2 crossed to his boss.

"Who should we send out with the cell phone?"

Now 2 turned to face the hostages. His eyes briefly crossed over Tiffany and Maren, and settled on two men sitting next to them, one older and one younger.

"I think it has to be one of them," he said, gesturing to the men.

"The TV woman and her daughter?" Sasha asked.

"No, one of the men. We're going to want to keep the women, the fuzz will be much more cautious with them in tow."

"I agree. Solid reasoning. Which one of those guys?"

"I keep going back and forth. I keep thinking the younger, but that other guy looks like he might have a stroke or something any minute."

"We'll go with your gut instinct. Send the kid."

"Yes, sir." 2 crossed over to the young man sitting cross-legged on the floor. "Let's go. Give this to the police when you get out there," he said, handing him the cell phone. He walked the man to the door, unlocking it and remaining behind it as the man exited.

The crowd outside bustled when the door opened and then cheered when the man exited. Mattison and his cohorts rushed up to him, then walked him back across the police lines surrounding the building.

Inside the FBI van, a technician hooked up the phone to his computer, punched up a couple of different options and pressed play. Mattison and Sean leaned in to watch.

"Hello Mattison," Sasha said, grinningly broadly. "Anticipated your needs, so here's some video of our little party in here." His commentary is heard over visions of the hostages, which basically consists of everyone sitting quietly and looking defeated. Sean exhaled slowly upon seeing his wife and daughter amongst the hostages. "As you can see, everyone is alive on well. The only injuries so far have been to people that you already have. And it will remain that way as long as you do what you do best, sit and wait for our next move. Bank out."

The video view moved off the hostages and to the floor before ending. "Alright, send it to the usual channels. I want stills of everyone in the footage, perpetrators and hostages alike."

"Yes, sir," the technician said.

Sean stepped out of the van, his head spinning. He knew he wasn't thinking clearly about any of it. His overwhelming feeling was of powerlessness. He mulled over the pieces of the puzzle, but kept coming back to the mournful faces of his wife and daughter. "Come on, Donely. You're not going to help them that way."

Mattison walked up to Sean in the most gracious manner he could muster. "You know, Donely, there's a reason why it's against policy for agents to be involved in these kinds of situations."

"I know, I know," Sean said. "But I'm not going anywhere."

"I wouldn't expect anything different," Mattison said. "I'm not sure that there would be much you can do even at 100 percent. This seems to be very well planned out, and they seem to know what our moves are before we make them."

"Then maybe we should make some moves they're not expecting," Sean said.

"We have to play it by the book as long as the hostages are the ones at risk," Mattison said.

"Don't I know that," Sean said. "But there's got to be something somewhere. Something they haven't thought of."

The phone line from the bank blared again. The head of the negotiating team picked it up as Sean and Mattison walked over.

"Mattison," Sasha said determinedly. The negotiator passed the receiver to Mattison.

"No need dragging this out and giving you time to make some ill-advised move into the bank," Sasha said.

"We wouldn't do that with civilians' lives at risk," Mattison said. "You seem to know that."

"Nevertheless, we want to bring this to an end as much as you do."

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Helicopter, landing on the roof of the bank. Civilian pilot and we'll be checking his identification against aviation records, so don't try anything there. We're more than willing to dump a body and fly it out ourselves if we have to, so don't bother. Gassed jet at one of the private landing strips at the airport. No police presence there. We'll let six hostages go here and we'll see about the rest if we get what we want at the airport."

.


	5. Chapter 5

Sasha hung up without further word. "Set it up," Mattison said, and the WSB agents scrambled into action.

"You probably don't want to go supervise at the airport, I assume," Mattison said.

"I know I should, but I just can't," Sean said. "Robert Scorpio should be arriving at the airport around now, he can work with your team there."

"I understand. I'll have them meet and brief him."

"Get another copter to come in here right after that one leaves and we can get there as soon as possible," Sean said.

"Already in the works," Mattison said.

Sean's phone rang. "Reynolds?" he asked.

"Yeah, boss. Bank manager couldn't give us much. Just that while he was getting the crap beaten out of him, a couple of the baddies couldn't be accounted for. They very well could have been in the corporate safe deposit area."

"Figured as much, we'll have to work on that later. This is coming to a head now. Get to the airport, my friend Robert Scorpio will be there."

"I'm on my way," Reynolds said and hang up.

Sean pressed "Old Buddy" on his cell phone. Hearing his friend's Aussie accent in salutation lifted his spirits for a moment.

"The things it takes for you to call me," Robert said.

"I know it, old buddy," Sean said. "You obviously landed…"

"Just," Robert said. "Timing as always your forte."

"Doesn't seem that way right now," Sean said.

"What's the latest?"

"They're still in there. The leader is Sasha Popovic, heard the name before?"

"Sounds vaguely familiar. Eurotrash, right?"

"Eurotrash with a cause, the worst kind. Anyway, they're all headed your way."

"He asked for an unpiloted jet on an unused runway, right?" Robert questioned.

"You got it. Some of Mattison's team is on the way, they'll fill you in on the rest. So is Reynolds from my office. You can trust him."

Robert understood Sean's unspoken sentiment that his man could be trusted more than the WSB's motives. "Give me a ring when the helicopter is on the move," Robert said.

"Will do."

"And Sean?'

"Yeah?"

"Keep that Irish chin of yours up."

Sean shook his head. "I'm trying…" They hung up without further word.

Inside the bank, Sasha huddled with his cohorts. "All right, we'll take the girl and the three remaining men."

"I'm not sure that's what we should do," 2 said. "I think we should take the reporter instead."

"Why's that?" Sasha asked, surprised at his underling's choice.

"In the court of public opinion, we're a lot better off fleeing the country iwith a journalist instead of a teen-age girl if we have to," 2 said.

"I don't agree," Sasha said.

"You respected my opinion before, why not now?" 2 asked brazenly but without bravado.

That took Sasha aback. "I'll think about it."

At the airport, Robert Scorpio met up with the WSB crew in the airport control room. "We're good to go from here. Helicopter's on the way to the bank. Jet is rolling out to runway 49. It's the closest isolated runway to a hangar, we'll set up in there. I need the photos we have of all the principles." One of the agents handed Robert a folder. "Thanks." He flipped through the pictures.

"That's the leader, Sasha Popovic. He's been involved in minor causes over the years, this is his first foray into something this big."

"He seems to be pretty well versed for a rookie," Robert said. "I think there are some major pieces to the puzzle not involved in this incident, but we need to work this first and try to get the civilians out of the equation."

"The military is already on standby for tracking them to the ultimate destination," one of the WSB agents said. "The call is in to Washington on that front."

"Very good, everything's going to move very quickly from here on in so let's get all the bases covered," Robert said. "Ambulances in the hangar, the works."

The WSB agents scrambled as Robert again regarded the photo of the ring leader.

"Looks like we won't find out what you're all about today," Robert said, he put that aside and flipped through the rest of the photos. He stopped at a photo of Tiffany. "Tiff, hang on." The next photo was of Maren. "Maren. You're going to be a heartbreaker just like your mother. I hope."

In the bank, Sasha, his cohorts and the hostages could hear a commotion above them.

"Helicopter's landing, everyone up to the roof," he barked. "Guys take three of the hostages apiece at two-minute intervals. Don't come out onto the helipad until I give the all clear." He gestured to the hostages. "All of you do what we say and you won't get hurt." He grabbed the television and started for the staircase.

Tiffany got to her feet, warily, and helped Maren stand. Her daughter was putting on a brave front, but she looked petrified. "It's going to be OK, baby, it's almost over."

"That's right," 2 said, firmly taking an arm for each of them and then gesturing to the older man sitting next to him to walk in front of him. "It's going to be all right."

"My mother's words are a comfort," Maren said to him. "Yours are not."

"It's almost over," 2 said anyway.

Maren's agitation increased. "Are you expecting some kind of Stockholm Syndrome out of me? I don't have any sympathy for you or your cause, whatever the hell it may be."

"Maren!" Tiffany said sharply, willing her not to say anything further.

"Let's go," he said, and the older men led the way toward the staircase. 3 and 4 followed with their hostages in tow.

Outside the bank, Sean, Mattison and the police viewed the scene. Sean's tension seemed to be raising in direct proportion to the fact that the situation was coming to a head.

"We've got the sharp shooters on the buildings to the West and the East," Mattison said.

"No one pulls a trigger while the hostages are at risk," Sean said.

"I know that, Donely."

On the roof, Sasha situated one of the female hostages in front of him and one behind and walked to the chopper on the bad. "Out," he said to the pilot, who swiftly did as told. "Papers," he barked again and the pilot handed over his identification. Sasha studied him, he looked nervous. He pulled out a cell phone and made a phone call. "Frank Roberts, pilots license ACR7897." He snapped a photo and sent an email via the phone. "We'll wait."

On the ground, Mattison's phone rang. "Popovic is on the roof, with a hostage in front of him and one behind.," came the report. "He's checking on the pilot's credentials. None of the other hostages are in view."

"Show me the feed," Mattison bellowed, and one of the agents called up the view from across the building. They could see Sasha getting a phone call, nodding in agreement and hanging up.

"OK," we're good to go," Sasha said, brandishing his weapon. "Back inside, Roberts, and remember lives are at stake, including your own."

"Yes, sir." The pilot climbed back into the helicopter.

Sasha and his hostages went back to the door that led to the bank. "We're good to go here. Everyone take one hostage and get on the helicopter. Stay close together so they can't get a bead on us." 3 and 4 started moving toward the chopper with male hostages ahead of them as instructed.

2 hung back, still grasping the Donely women by the arm. "I said 'go'!" Sasha yelled. "Take the girl."

"No!" Tiffany yelled and it drowned out what would have been 2's own protestation.

"Ms. Hill, you're almost out of this alive, do you really want to jeopardize your own life and that of your daughter right now?"

"You're not taking her," Tiffany said. "I'll go. Just leave her here, I'll go and you won't have any trouble out of me."

"The decision has been made," Sasha said.

"Well change it," Tiffany said determinedly. "You have two choices right now, you can take me and go, or you can just kill me and this will become a turkey shoot faster than you can bat one of those long eyelashes of yours. Because I'm not letting you leave her with my daughter while I have breath in my body."

"Mom," Maren cried mournfully.

Sasha took a deep breath. "I don't have time for this, take her and go," he said, gesturing to Tiffany. He turned back to Maren. "You're one lucky little girl. Next time, my pet."

Maren resisted the urge to spit in his face. And she wasn't the only one who did.

2 pulled Tiffany toward the helicopter. "Mom!" Maren cried.

"Go inside, baby, I love you," Tiffany said as she was hauled out to the helicopter. 2 and Sasha jumped aboard right after her and Sasha slammed the door closed.

"Go!" he barked and the pilot pulled off the helipad.

"Go!" Sean also cried on the ground as he, Mattison and the agents raced to the building with guns drawn. The agents used a battering ram to splinter open the front door and they rushed onto the now empty bank floor.

"Up to the roof!" Mattison said and they moved into stairwell in formation, making sure there were no surprises waiting for them.

On the roof Maren crumpled to the ground. "Mom!" she cried again as her mother disappeared from her sight.


	6. Chapter 6

Noises grew from inside the roof door as Sean, Mattison and the WSB made their way up the stairs, meeting up with the other shaken hostages, but Maren didn't hear a sound as she looked off into the distance. The helicopter disappeared from her view. Sean bypassed each of the hostages, reaching the door first. He held his gun aloft and opened the door, just as a voice crackled over Mattison's radio. "The roof's clear except for one of the hostages."

Sean opened the door wider and saw Maren on the ground, sobbing. He holstered his gun and rushed over to her.

"Baby girl, come here," he said, enveloping her. "Are you all right? Are you all right?"

Maren buried her wet face into her father's chest. "They took Mom. …They took her… They… they wanted to take me, but she wouldn't let them," she managed to say in fits and starts. "She wouldn't let them."

Sean held her as tightly to him as he could. "Oh baby. It's OK. You're OK."

"All the times I fought with her. … All the times I pretended I didn't care about her or her career or any of it," Maren sobbed.

"Baby, she knows you do," Sean said, trying to wipe the tears away. "She knows it."

Another helicopter started to land on the roof.

"Donely, do you want to go with us?"

Sean looked up from his daughter. He didn't want to let her go, not ever again. But he needed to get to the airport and he certainly couldn't take Maren with her.

"Maren, I want to go to the airport. I don't want to leave you here."

"No, go, Dad, go find Mom. Go save Mom," Maren cried tearfully.

A female officer approached them. "Chief Donely, I'll take care of her. Get her statement. Get her some food and a change of clothes. She'll be all right."

Sean slowly stood up, bringing Maren to her feet with him as they still clung to each other. "OK," he said. "Baby, go with Lt. Mitchell." He spoke to Mitchell. "Don't take her to the house, take her to the station. Ellie's there." He pulled his daughter's gaze to his. "I'll find your mother. It's going to be OK." He hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're OK, baby, I love you." He hesitatingly pulled away. "I love you, Maren."

"I love you, Dad," Maren said and her voice trailed off. "Tell Mommy I love her."

"I will, baby. Go get some food, maybe some rest." Sean crossed to the helicopter and climbed in. Half of him wanted to stay behind.

Maren stood and watched the helicopter take off, just as the other one had with her mother just minutes before. She started crying again. Lt. Mitchell put her hands on her shoulders and led her to the door of the roof, Maren took one last look at the helicopter disappearing in the distance.

Sean was looking back at her too. He let himself take a breath, half his family was all right. Half to go.

"Eleven hostages saved, four to go," Mattison said. "Maybe we can get out of this with minimal damage after all."

"I don't know how minimal it can be, I think my daughter's scarred for life," Sean said.

"Sorry, I didn't mean…" Mattison started.

"Save it," Donely cut him off. "It's fine. … Anything from the airport yet?"

"Not yet," Mattison said. "I'll check in." He turned his back on Sean and made a phone call.

"Tiffany, my love, that was very brave. Stupid but brave," Sean said to himself admiringly but with concern. "Please don't try to do anything else like that."

Tiffany held herself tightly in the helicopter as though she could hear Sean's words. She knew exactly what he would say, as if he wouldn't have done the very same thing in her place. She had been petrified standing up to Sasha, she wasn't sure he wouldn't leave her for dead right then and there. But she would have died rather than seen that helicopter take off with that creep and her teenage daughter to untold horrors.

"That took a lot of guts, Ms. Hill," Sasha said to her. "It was a really dumb move, but I have to admit it was gutsy."

"I'm sure I don't care what your opinion is of me," Tiffany said, almost regretting it before she said it.

"Don't try anything else like that or I'll take you up on your offer next time," Sasha said. Tiffany did not respond.

The helicopter touched down on the runway, nothing was in sight except for a leer jet with the stairs down.

"We'll all move onto the jet the same way we got into the helicopter," Sasha barked. "2, go check it out to make sure we don't have any heroes lying in wait."

2 started to step out of the helicopter. "Don't forget a hostage," Sasha chided.

"Let's go, Ms. Hill," 2 said, leading her off the chopper.

From the airport command post on the closed-circuit video, Robert could see his old friend disembark with one of the terrorists. "Glad to see you alive and well, Tiff," he said to himself.

2 led Tiffany to the plane. She entered first and then 2 did behind her. No one was on the aircraft. 2 leaned back out the door, he gave the all-clear signal to those on the helicopter. The bad guys and their hostages started to come off the helicopter, Sasha put his gun in the small of the pilot's back to urge him off as well. In his other hand, he was still carrying the portable television.

Those watching the video monitor at the command post saw everyone board the plane and the door slam shut. The door opened again quickly and a video camera was tossed out onto the tarmac. "Amateurs," Sasha said.

Robert scowled at the monitor. "Speak for yourself. We can still see and hear you pretty well, Sash, for embedded in the plane control panel we have the latest in WSB hardware. Of course if someone shuts that door, we're toast beyond seeing what's going on in the cockpit."

On the plane, everyone had been seated, with hostages sitting next to their captors. Sasha set up his portable television and turned it on to news broadcasts about the situation. Every channel he flipped to had a live broadcast of the bank job and the continuing crisis.

"We're broadcasting live from the Boston bank, which was abuzz with activity until about 10 minutes ago," some fresh-faced young female reported. "According to a World Security Bureau spokesperson, at the start of the crisis, 15 hostages were taken. Nine of them have been since released, two of them were taken to the hospital for injuries allegedly caused by the terrorists."

Sasha harrumphed and muttered "terrorists" under his breath. He changed the channel to a local Boston station. Another fresh-faced young female was reporting. "They sure know their demographic around these parts," he said.

Tiffany held her breath. She knew what was coming. "One of the hostages is our own reporter, Tiffany Hill. The 14-year-old daughter of the internationally known former movie star and Boston's chief of police Sean Donely had been one of the hostages, but she was let go when the terrorists released the latest wave of victims. According to the World Security Bureau, she was unharmed and is currently under police guard.

Sasha snapped off the television. In the airport control room, Robert snapped to attention.

"Ms. Hill, you lied to me," Sasha said, walking down the aisle toward where she was sitting next to 2.

"No, I didn't," Tiffany said with a brave face.

"Your daughter is also the daughter of Boston's chief of police? Maren Donely, is it not?"

"I don't see what difference that would make."

"Apparently you do, since you didn't bother to fill me in on that fact."

"She's my daughter too," Tiffany said.

"The daughter of Boston's police chief would have made a far better hostage for us than an over-the-hill actress-turned-reporter," Sasha said, raising his gun and smashing Tiffany across the forehead with the butt of it. Tiffany hit her head on the side of the seat as she fell to the floor.

"No!" Robert shouted in the control room as he saw Sasha take off the safety and point it at Tiffany.

On the plane, 2 leaned over Tiffany's lifeless body. Blood trickling from her head covered his hand. "Why did you do that?" he asked.

"You're starting to backtalk me a little more than I would like, 2," Sasha said.

"I just thought we weren't supposed to seriously hurt anyone, that's all," 2 said. "She's unconscious."

"It's her own fault, she should have told me the truth," Sasha said.

"I can't see what much of a difference it would have made," 2 said.

"I like to have all the facts, so I can make decisions based on them," Sasha retorted, lowering his gun.

"You have just as much control over the police chief, his force and his former World Security Bureau buddies with his wife as you do his daughter," 2 said. "And like I said before, in the court of public opinion, they'd much rather see a journalist as a hostage than a teenage girl."

"I don't care about the court of public opinion."

"I think you do. If anything goes wrong here…"

"What's going to go wrong? Everything's been by the book so far."

"Until now," 2 said. "This woman is seriously injured. We have to get her off the plane. She needs medical attention."

"It'll have to wait," Sasha said. "Not until we're ready to go."


	7. Chapter 7

Sean and Mattison burst into the command post. "Robert …" and that was about as much greeting as Sean could afford the time for … "What's happening?"

"Sean," he said, his affinity for his friend stepping aside for concern. "Tiff's hurt."

"What? She's been shot?" Sean blustered.

"No, not shot. That Sasha creep hit her across the head with his gun. She fell down pretty hard, she might have hit her head again, it's hard to tell."

"She's still on the plane?"

"Yes. It doesn't look like they're in any hurry to get her medical attention," Robert said.

"We need to force their hand then. We've got to get her off there," Sean said, staring intently at the video monitor but not seeing anything of any value.

"I agree, I'm just not sure how to do it."

"Well let's try asking for the hostages. They got their plane. They've gotten everything they wanted from us."

"It couldn't hurt," Robert said. "Call the plane. Just say you need information on clearance for takeoff."

The WSB agent looked over at Mattison for confirmation. He nodded. "Do it."

"I'll be right back," Sean said, taking the phone out of his coat pocket as he left the room. He dialed Ellie and leaned against the wall, exhausted.

"Yeah, boss," Ellie said, sounding a little exhausted herself. "She's here."

"Let me talk to her, OK?"

"Of course," Ellie said, handing the phone to Maren.

"Daddy?" Maren said. She only used that word when she was frightened.

"Hi baby, how's my girl?"

"Is Mom all right?"

Sean looked up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure what to tell her.

"She's still on the plane, baby."

"It hasn't taken off yet, though, right? They're supposed to let her go. They said they were going to let them go."

"I know, honey. We're working on it. Don't worry."

"Have they let you talk to her?" Maren asked.

"No, baby. The WSB has taken over, so they're the ones who talk to people on the other end."

"I wish you could talk to her, Daddy."

"I do too, sweetheart," Sean was hurting a little bit more with every word. "How are you doing with Ellie?"

"She just ordered chowder."

"Your favorite, from Legal Seafood?"

"No, mom's favorite from Kelly's. Mom always said it reminded her of being at Kelly's in Port Charles."

"I remember. Honey, I need to get back inside, let me talk to Ellie for a minute, OK? I'll call you back as soon as I can."

"Ok, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart."

Maren regretfully passed the phone to Ellie. "Yeah, boss."

"Ellie, turn off the police feeds into the office, OK?"

"I did before she got here," Ellie said. "We're just watching your wife's station."

"I guess I can't ask her not to, so that'll have to do," Sean said. "Thanks for ordering her some clam chowder. Anything else happening there?"

"No, not really. Lt. Mitchell said the WSB wants her statement, but they'll wait until after she has something to eat."

"Just make her as comfortable as you can. If she lies down on my couch, maybe she'll fall asleep. Have to go, will call when I can."

"OK, bye." Ellie said, hanging up the phone and turning back to Maren. "Let's go into your dad's office for a while."

Maren and Ellie walked into his office. Maren walked over to his chair and sat in it. Ellie crossed to the television set and flicked it on, it was already on Tiffany's station. Maren looked down at the desk and picked up the plaster hand print that she had made for her father when she was in first grade, putting her hand over it. "Hard to believe this was mine," she said. A photograph of Maren with her parents caught her eye and her hand moved over to the frame. "Mommy," she said and tears streamed down her cheek. Ellie bit her lip to avoid crying herself.

On the plane, Sasha was feeling uncomfortable. He took his blazer off and slung it over a chair. "I don't want to be rushed, tell them we will call them when we're interested in leaving. I'm really not interested in what time the Chicago Air flight was supposed to arrive or when the next plane to Mexico City was due to take off." He went into the cockpit and slammed the door.

"Damn!" Robert exclaimed.

"Now we can't see what's going on with Tiffany," Sean said.

Sasha was standing right in front of the camera, so closely that they couldn't actually see him, just the blackness of his pant leg. "Wait a minute," Robert said. "Pump up that audio."

One of the WSB agents at the controls did as he asked. Through the static, they could hear Sasha's voice. "You're watching all of this, I assume." … The control room was silent, craning their ears for every word. "It's almost entirely gone off without a hitch." … "Of course I have the document. You already have the other three from New York, LA and Houston. When you put them together with this one, well, we'll have a weapon that will make the world stand up and take notice." … "I understand, we'll move within the hour as soon as he gets here. Good-bye."

The control room went from total silence to chaos in two seconds. "When who gets here?" Robert asked.

"I have no idea," Sean said.

Back on the plane, a worried-looking 2 was putting pressure on Tiffany's head. The rag he had been using now soaked with blood. "Can I get some more of those cloth napkins back here? The wound won't stop bleeding." He looked at her face, which was still with no hint of pain or worry. She had bruises on both sides of her forehead, one where the wound was generating fresh blood and the other from where she had hit the seat while falling. "I said someone help me, please." Neither 3 nor 4 nor any of the hostages made a motion to move.

"Don't be such an alarmist, 2," Sasha said, emerging from the cockpit and leaving the door open. He moved to the back of the plane, opening the cabinet doors in the little pantry and taking out a stack of cloth napkins. He threw a couple of them at 2 as he moved back up the aisle, dumping the rest on his own seat.

"She hasn't regained consciousness," 2 said. "We can't just let her die."

"We'll be out of here within the hour. She can surely hold on until then."

"Thank God. I don't like the way this is headed."

"You're getting yourself all worked up over nothing," Sasha said. "You have to be ready to improvise when it's called for. Which reminds me, I need to go make another phone call."

Sasha crossed into the cockpit and closed the door. Sean grimaced, but the rest of the control room waited in eager expectation of another phone call.

Further back on the plane, one of the hostages asked 3 to use the bathroom. "No," 3 said. "It'll wait."

2 looked up from Tiffany for a minute to lock eyes with 3. "He said we have to be ready to improvise, so improvise. Let the woman use the bathroom. It's not going to hurt anything."

"Fine," 3 said, leading his hostage to the back.

"I really have to go too," the other hostage spoke. 4 shook his head at 2. "Of course you do," 4 said. "Let's go."

4 led his hostage to the back as 2 gingerly rested Tiffany's head on the seat and moved forward in the plane. He walked up a couple rows to where Sasha had dumped the rest of the cloth napkins, picking a couple of them up. He looked both ways, up the aisle and toward the cockpit, before moving his hand into the inside pocket of Sasha's blazer and taking out a sealed envelope, which he put between a couple of the napkins. He replaced the envelope with one from inside his own jacket pocket, then swiftly moved back up the aisle. He wrapped two of the new napkins, with the envelope in between them around Tiffany's head and exhaled slowly.

In the control room, the well-trained WSB agents, past and present, were listening to Sasha whisper sweet nothings into his girlfriend's ear long distance.

"This guy has some big time cojones," Robert said.

"Nothing puts a guy in the mood like foreign intrigue," Mattison said.

"When I get back we're going to go on extended vacation, my darling," Sasha said.

"I'll send this guy on extended vacation, all right," Sean said.

Sasha blew kisses over the phone and hung up, just as attention in the airport command post turned to a limousine pulling onto the tarmac.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh, I don't believe this," Robert said as a middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair emerged from the limo.

"One sex scandal and he goes to the dark side," Mattison said.

"Prince Coulson, great," Sean said. "Let's go, Robert."

"We can't touch him, Donely," Mattison said.

"I know that, Mattison. But they're going to be out of here in minutes and I'd rather be heading toward the scene in an emergency vehicle than sitting here gossiping about the royal divorce."

"If there is one," Mattison said.

"Either way. … Robert?" Scorpio grabbed his jacket and headed out of the room with his old friend.

"Don't make a move until the plane is in the air," Mattison said.

"Yeah, right," Donely said and the door slammed behind him.

"Get the British and New Zealand consulates on the phone," Mattison said.

"Right away, sir," an agent replied.

"And Washington."

"Of course," he added.

On the plane, Sasha embraced the prince. "It's good to see you, my friend."

"And you as well," Coulson responded. "How long until we can get out of here? I'm sure the WSB already has connected the dots."

"I'll call for clearance right now," Sasha said, crossing to the cockpit. "3, get here and run the aircraft checks." He put the headphone set on and depressed the voice switch. "This is USA 1776 requesting clearance for takeoff."

"Funny, Popovic," Mattison responded.

"Do we have clearance or not?"

"Where are my hostages?"

"They're still my hostages, Mattison," Sasha said.

"We've given you everything you asked for and you apparently have your diplomatic immunity in tow, now I want the hostages."

"I'm sure you do. … But maybe we need a little insurance, maybe they should just accompany us on our little trip."

"You're not going to be shot down," Mattison said. "You know that."

"Oh, I have your word, well that and a bag of tea leaves will just get me a cup of tea, now won't it," Sasha said. "I'd be a lot more assured of that with these civilians with me."

Mattison fell silent.

"Ten minutes, get me clearance within 10 minutes and you'll get your hostages. Spirit of 1776 out."

Sasha tossed the headset on the co-pilot's chair. "Be ready in 10," he said to 3.

"Yes, sir," 3 said, busily running mentally running the pilot checklist for takeoff.

Sasha moved back into the cabin, grabbing his blazer and putting it on. He patted the pocket with the envelope to make sure it was still there.

"This is a big day for you, my friend," he said to the prince. "No turning back now."

"The family didn't give me much choice," Coulson said. "What's with her," he said, gesturing to the unconscious Tiffany, still being attended to by 2.

"She didn't follow procedure," Sasha said.

2 glared at him but didn't say anything. The napkins were starting to seep through with blood. "Can't stop the bleeding," he said.

Sasha threw some more of the cloth napkins his way. "You won't have to deal with it much longer," he said.

In Sean's office, Maren was still curled up in her father's chair. Ellie entered with a bag of food. "Chowder's on," she tried to say brightly. Ellie picked up an empty mug, opened a container of clam chowder and poured it in. She grabbed a soup spoon from inside and ladled it into the chowder. "Here, Maren."

Maren reached for the mug. "Thanks."

"You want crackers?"

"No, thanks." She glanced over at the TV. The backup reporter was on camera again. "Turn that up, please."

Ellie dutifully turned up the volume.

"The situation at the airport so far is unchanged. A limo was spotted entering the private airport runway area, but the World Security Bureau has totally closed off the area and no further information is available at this time. According to an anonymous source within the agency, though, the terrorists are expected to depart the country within the hour. They are expected to leave the remaining four hostages behind at that time, but neither that nor their condition can be confirmed at this time. To recap, the day started off…"

Ellie muted the television as pictures of the day's events appeared on the screen.

"Maren, don't look at that again," Ellie said.

Maren looked down at the mug of chowder, scooped a little on the spoon and put it in her mouth. "Mom was right. I think Kelly's chowder is better." She started to cry. Ellie moved to her, gently taking the mug from her hand and letting the young girl weep on her shoulder.

"Tower to Popovic, you have clearance for takeoff," Mattison said over the headset.

"That's more like it," Sasha said. "We'll be out of your hair soon, Mattison, so you can stop pulling it out."

"Let's roll," Sean said to Robert, who was sitting in the front seat of his car listening to the police radio.

"I was about to say the same," Robert retorted.

Sean jumped out of the car to address the drivers of the assorted emergency and WSB vehicles behind him. "Runway 49. Stay on alert, just in case. They should be considered armed and dangerous, but they still have hostages so don't start firing blindly."

The cars tore out of the lot toward the runways.

On the plane, Sasha instructed his cohorts to put the hostages in the prince's limousine. They started to disembark the plane, with 2 and 3 hoisting Tiffany by each shoulder and carrying her off. 2 gently put in the seat, still applying pressure to the bleeding wound.

"Listen, you have to hold this in place," he said to the other hostages. "If she regains consciousness, get her talking. Don't let her fall back asleep." The exhausted hostages looked at him warily. "Just do it. It's very important. Make sure to tell the doctor that she was hit with the end of a gun and then struck her head again when she fell to the ground. Come hold this."

None of the hostages seemed eager to move, but one finally did shift over, moving a hand to the place on Tiffany's head that 2 was holding.

"Good, keep it there." 2 darted out of the limousine and headed back to the jet's stairway.

"Hold it right there," Sasha said as he appeared in the doorway, with a pistol drawn.

2 froze on the spot. Did Sasha know he had taken the very thing they went through all this trouble for or was this just about his concern for Tiffany?

From the hangar video camera, Mattison could see Sasha draw the gun on his protégé. "Donely … Scorpio …" he called over the radio.

"Scorpio here," Robert said.

"You might want to hang back a little, they might be turning on each other," Mattison said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Sasha just drew a gun on his own man."

"Sean…" Robert said.

"I heard," Sean said, not letting up behind the wheel.

"We'll take it under advisement," Robert said. "Scorpio out. … I hope you know what you're doing."

"You know old buddy … Mattison tells me there's a reason why it's against policy for agents to be involved in situations of a personal nature."

"I think I've heard something along those lines. Never stopped us before."

"Nope."

Sean turned around another corner and the jet and the limousine was finally in view. He stepped on the gas and barreled toward it, just as Sasha fired at 2 twice. He struck him flat in the chest with both bullets and 2 fell backward to the ground.


	9. Chapter 9

Sasha pressed the stairs retaction button and the stairs started to fold up. He looked at his victim for a second. 2 didn't move. His eyes raised to the horizon, he could see the caravan speeding toward the runway. He turned and locked the door.

"Let's go. Now!" he said, jumping in the cockpit, closing the door behind him and sliding into the co-pilot chair.

"Monitor the conversation in the cockpit, I'm going down to the runway," Mattison said.

"Yes, sir."

The plane started to move away down the runway in the opposite direction. Sean stepped on the gas. His car screeched to a halt 50 feet away from the limousine. He and Robert jumped out and drew their guns. Robert moved to 2, patted down the unconscious figure and took his gun. Two WSB vehicles stopped and more agents stepped out of the car with their guns drawn.

"You are surrounded by police and the World Security Bureau agents, open the door slowly and step out with your hands in the air." Sean said determinedly. He reached for the door handle, which was slowly starting to open.

Two of the three shaken hostages emerged from the vehicle with their hands up. Sean looked in the car where the third hostage still held the napkins to Tiffany's head. He froze for a second. "Tiffany, sweetheart."

"She's unconscious," the third hostage said. "The terrorist said to keep pressure on it, she's bleeding pretty badly."

Sean climbed into the car and put his hand to the bloody bandage. "OK, I got her, come on out. Easy." The hostage did as told and Sean cradled his wife in his arms. "Baby, hang on."

The ambulance attendants rushed over to the vehicle with a stretcher. Sean eased Tiffany through the door, holding her as tenderly as he could. "Honey, talk to me, please."

"Let us take her," one of the attendants said. Sean ignored him and delicately placed her on the stretcher himself. His breathing became increasingly measured. "We need to check her vitals, sir, please stand back." Sean warily stepped back two steps. He turned to Robert and the unconscious bad guy. WSB agents were leading the other hostages into their vehicles.

Sean approached Robert, who was crouching over the figure. "He's wearing a bulletproof vest, guess he's lucky Popovic is such a good shot."

"Yeah lucky," Sean said. Two more ambulance attendants emerged with another stretcher. "Wake him up." One of the attendants reached into his kit for a smelling salt vial, cracked it and held it under 2's nose. 2 came too quickly and looked around. He pulled himself up, brushing off his chest.

"Glad I decided to wear this thing," he said as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, I am too," Sean said, pulling his arm back and punching 2 square in the jaw. 2 fell back down to the tarmac.

"Sean, calm down," Robert said.

"Oh yeah, calm down, I'm calm … I'm calm," the uncalm Sean said.

"I can see. Go in the ambulance with Tiff, I'll drive your car to the hospital," Robert said.

"OK … OK," Sean said, trailing the stretcher with Tiffany on it to the ambulance. "Is she going to be all right?" he said the EMTs.

"She's unconscious, there's a lot of bleeding and bruising to the brain, we need to get her stabilized and then the doctors will take it from there," the attendant said. "You're coming with us?"

"Yes, I'm her husband." Sean climbed into the ambulance and kneeled at the side of the stretcher, holding her hand as the doors slammed shut. "I'm here, baby. You're going to be all right."

As the ambulance pulled away, Robert looked down at 2, who was starting to come to again. He regarded Robert warily. "You're not going to punch me out too, are you?" 2 asked.

"Not at the present juncture," Robert responded.

"Good. I'm Royce Stanton. WSB."

"What?" Robert said incredulously.

"I'm undercover … was undercover. Going to need to be undercover again, way undercover when Sasha figures out that he doesn't have the final piece that he needs to rule the world," Royce said.

Mattison's vehicle pulled up to them.

"Stanton, long time, no see. Aren't you supposed to be on that plane?"

"Don't need to, sir. They don't have it."

"Mind telling me what's going on here?" Robert asked.

"Well, not that we have to, but since you're already involved, I will. Stanton here has been deep undercover for about a year and a half now. We've been assigning our agents on this program for a few years now. We get them installed with known subversives. Most of the time it doesn't lead to much, but every now and then…"

"…We get someone like Sasha Popovic with delusions of grandeur," Royce continued. "Then the WSB doesn't have to try and infiltrate his group and run twice as much risk of being caught, because it's already done."

"Interesting," Robert said.

"Let's get out of here," Mattison said. "I'll debrief you at headquarters. Scorpio, would you like to join us?"

"I would, but I really need to get to the hospital. The chief's wife is a good friend of mine. But I would appreciate a copy of Stanton's report as soon as possible."

"Of course," Mattison said. "Let's go, Stanton."

"I hope Ms. Hill … Mrs. Donley is going to be all right," Royce said.

"I hope so too," Robert said. "Thanks, Stanton."

Robert leaned into the driver's seat of Sean's car and sped away.

"Sir, we have to get in touch with the ambulance that Mrs. Donely is in. The final documents are in the bandage around her head."

"Inventive, Stanton," Mattison said.

"Didn't have much choice," Royce said. "I gotta admit I got worried at the end when Sasha pointed that gun at me. I thought he figured out I made the switch."

"And you're lucky he knows how to use that gun he likes to wave around so much," Mattison added.

"I was thinking that myself, sir," Royce said.

"Smith, get me the lead ambulance," Mattison said.

"Yes, sir," Agent Smith said.

"Well it's all over," the backup reporter said into the television camera to the joy of Maren and Ellie in Sean's office. "All of the hostages have been released and the terrorists have fleed the country. The World Security Bureau hasn't released any names yet, but sources say that consulates in England and New Zealand have been contacted, leading to rampant speculation that beleaguered Prince Coulson is once against in the midst of a scandal. This time, of course, it's of a much more serious nature."

"What about my mom?" Maren said.

As if on cue, the newswoman continued. "Sources also say that one of the hostages has been seriously injured and one of the terrorists also took a bullet in the final moments of the siege. The hostage has been taken to Boston Memorial Hospital, we'll have further details as they become available."

"I need to go to the hospital," Maren exclaimed.

"We really should wait here for your father. It might not even be her," Ellie said.

"It's her, I know it's her. Dad would have called by now if it wasn't her," Maren said. Ellie knew she was right.

"OK, I'll take you over there. He'll kill me for doing this, but I will," Ellie said.

"Thanks."

No sooner had they left the room than Ellie's phone rang. "Ellie, come on, where are you?" Sean said at the other end of the phone.

"Mr. Donely?" one of the ambulance attendants asked.

"Yes?"

"It's the WSB, they want to talk to you."

"Fine," Sean said, taking the phone from the attendant, who went back to work on Tiffany. "Mattison?"

"Yes, it's me. Sean, have the EMTs discarded the bandages around your wife's head?"

"What bandages? It was a bunch of napkins."

"The napkins that were serving as bandages, yes… We need them."

Sean addressed the EMTs. "Where are the napkins that were pressed to her head when you got to the scene?"

"We put them in the hazardous waste bag, there," one of the EMTs shrugged.

Sean leaned over to the bag. "Yes, I have them," he said into the phone. He peeled the napkins apart, revealing the envelope Stanton had taken from Popovic.

"Keep them secure, Donely. I'll send someone to the hospital for them," Mattison said.

"OK, fine," Donely said.

"I'm serious. This whole thing has been about that envelope. We need to keep it safe."

"I'll do it, I'll do it." Sean stopped in his tracks and dropped the phone as the monitor hooked up to Tiffany flatlined. "No! No, baby, no. Please, no." The EMTs scrambled to restart her heart.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The stretcher carrying Tiffany was wheeled into Emergency.

"We got her heart restarted, she's lost a lot of blood, she's hemorrhaging into her brain," the EMT told the doctors and nurses who rushed over.

"Room 4's open," a nurse said and they wheeled her off in that direction as a shaken Sean stood in the middle of the chaotic room.

"Dad!" Sean heard his daughter's voice and turned to see Maren and Ellie.

"It's Mom, isn't it?"

Sean couldn't speak, he just pulled his daughter firmly into his arms.

"Come sit down," Ellie gently said, tugging them toward a pair of open seats.

"What happened? Is she going to be all right?"

Sean struggled to regain his composure. He took a couple of deep breaths. "I honestly don't know, honey. She's … in bad shape."

"No!" Maren wailed.

One of the nurses walked over to them. "We called up your wife's records, we're trying to stop the bleeding and get her stabilized, then we'll able to tell you more."

Sean nodded. The nurse touched his arm reassuringly before walking away. Robert entered the room, surveying it until he found his friend.

"Any word?" Robert asked.

Sean shook his head negatively. "She's in there," he said, pointing toward Room 4.

"She'll be all right, Sean. I know it. She's tough, she's survived you all these years, right?"

Sean emitted a forced chuckle. "Her heart stopped in the ambulance, they got it started again but … she's lost a lot of blood." He held Maren tightly with one hand and rubbed his other across his eyes. "She hasn't regained consciousness yet. She has head injuries. Call Noah Drake in Port Charles. We saw that Nightline special a couple months ago about the instrument he invented for tricky brain surgery. If she needs it, I want him here."

"I'll call right away," Robert said, grabbing his cell phone and heading for the exit so he could make his phone call in a quieter location.

"It should be me," Maren said, fresh tears streaming down her face.

"No baby, no," Sean said. "Your mom did what she had to do to keep you safe. That's the thing she wanted most in this world."

"Can I get either of you anything?" Ellie said with concern.

"Not right now, thanks," Sean said. "Ellie, it's been a really long day. Why don't you go home?"

"Are you sure? I'd rather be here if you need me for anything?"

"No, it's OK. We're just going to be waiting. You've gone beyond the call as it is."

"Call me if you need something … anything?" Ellie said.

"I will, thanks," Sean said.

"Thanks Ellie for staying with me," Maren mustered.

"Any time, I hope everything is going to be all right," she said, turning to Sean. "Call me when you know something, please."

"I will," Sean said and he turned to envelop his sobbing daughter with both his arms.

Ellie rose from her seat slowly and started to walk out, looking back with empathy at Sean and Maren. "Please God. Please help them. All of them," she said as she exited.

Royce entered the bustling emergency room and surveyed the crowd. He didn't see Maren, because she was so tightly wrapped in Sean's arms. Behind him, Robert re-entered, putting his phone in his pocket as he did.

"What are you doing here?" Robert asked. "Weren't you on the way to debriefing?"

"I was … Mattison sent me for something that I left with Mrs. Donely."

"With Mrs. Donely?" a confused Robert repeated.

"The fourth document on the atom smasher that Popovic wanted to create," Royce admitted. "I planted a decoy and took the real document, wrapped it in Mrs. Donely's bandages."

"You're lucky that worked," Robert said.

"We're all lucky that worked," Royce said.

"Sean's over here," Robert said, leading the way over to Sean and Maren.

"Sean." Robert said. "The WSB sent over…"

Sean and Maren looked up and their sadness immediately turned to anger directed at Royce.

"Dad! He's one of them!" Maren said.

"No, he's not," Robert said. "He's…" Before Robert could finish the sentence, Sean's anger got the best of him and he punched him again. Royce withstood this blow, though. "WSB," Robert finished.

"No, he's not, Uncle Robert," Maren yelled. "He was one of them. The terrorists. He kept us hostage in the bank."

"Are we playing 'Thank you sir, may I have another here?'" Sean asked angrily, Robert's words not having sunk in yet.

"At some point, I will stop taking your punches and I will start throwing them," Royce said. "Listen to your friend. He's right. I'm WSB. Deep undercover. You can check it out with Mattison if you don't believe him."

Sean stepped back and Robert's words finally hit their mark. But his anger was not yet assuaged. "You were involved in this. I don't care if you were undercover. You took my daughter and my wife hostage. And my wife is in there and…" His voice trailed off.

"I didn't want her to get hurt, I tried to help her," Royce said. "I tried to help her at the risk of my own life. I was shot because Popovic didn't think he could trust me anymore."

Sean took a beat to digest what he was hearing. "Maren, baby, did he hurt you? Did you see him hurt your mother?"

Maren thought back on all that had happened that day. "No."

"Thank you," Royce said.

"You're not welcome," Maren retorted.

"Fine. What are you doing here?" Sean asked.

"Mattison sent me for the envelope. I was the one who hid it in your wife's bandages."

"I think I'm going to hold onto it for a little while if you don't mind," Sean said.

"I do mind," Royce said. "I risked my life to get those."

"You risked my wife's life too," Sean said. "And I'm not willing to just hand them over to you on your say-so. Never heard of a double agent?"

"Yes, I have. In fact, a familiar name comes up in WSB lure when we talk about these things," Royce retorted.

"Uh, I think I should step in here," Robert said. "Stanton, I think my friend here is right. Mattison was wrong to send you to retrieve this document. If he wants it and apparently he does, he knows where to find us."

"Fine," Royce said. His voice softened. "I am sorry. I do want your wife to be all right."

No one said anything further and Royce walked away from the group.

"How's your hand?" Robert said to try to break the tension.

"It hurts from pounding that guy's fat head twice in one day," Sean managed. "The nerve of Mattison sending that guy to pick it up from me of all people."

"Probably thought he was giving the kid a break, let him bring in the prize that he landed," Robert said.

"Probably. But Mattison doesn't think too much about people's emotions, does he?"

"The best WSB chiefs don't."

Sean was stung a little by his friend's comment. "I'm going to take my daughter outside for a minute," he said.

"Good idea," Robert said. "Dr. Drake's on his way, by the way"

"Thanks," Sean said as they walked off.

Robert crossed over to Room 4, peering in it. The previous hustle and bustle had dwindled and there was only a nurse monitoring her vital signs at the present. He pushed the door open and walked in. Tiffany was lying there, looking completely peaceful.

"Only the one-and-only Tiffany Hill could look beautiful at death's doorstep," he said softly. "Bruises and all."

A groggy Tiffany started to come out of it at the sound of her friend's voice. "Robert?" she said.

"Tiff? Ohmigod, Tiffany. Let me get the doctor."

"What's going on, Robert? I … Everything seems so dark. My head hurts so bad. Everything looks kind of shadowy."

Robert pulled back, concerned. "Tiff, let me tell the doctor and Sean that you're awake."

Tiffany shook her head, confused. "I don't … Something's wrong, Robert."


	11. Chapter 11

Robert rushed out the emergency room doors, looking for Sean and Maren. He spotted them leaning on each other about 100 feet away.

"Sean! She's awake, mate!" Robert yelled.

"Just now?" Sean said as he and Maren rushed over.

"Yes, the doctor's with her now," Robert said and his lack of enthusiasm concerned Sean.

"But…" Sean queried.

"But, there might be some complications," Robert said.

"What complications?"

"She recognized my voice, but I don't think she really saw me. I think she's having trouble with her vision."

"Oh no!" Maren cried.

"Don't worry, baby. She took a pretty big blow to the head. Two of them, in fact, and it's normal to have some dizziness or some kind of visual difficulty after that, believe me I know," Sean said, trying to downplay his concern. "I want to go in there. Robert, will you stay here with Maren?"

"Of course. Far be it for me to turn down a lady."

Sean hurried back into the emergency room and over to Room 4. He whipped open the door, but Tiffany wasn't in there. No one was. Sean crossed over to the information desk.

"Where's my wife?"

"And your wife's name?" the unhelpful clerk asked.

"Donely. Tiffany Donely. She was in Room 4 two minutes ago. I'd like to know where she is now if that's not too much trouble."

"Of course, sir. One minute, please." She punched the keys of her computer until Tiffany's file came up.

"She's being admitted and they're prepping her for a CAT scan, sir," the clerk said.

"Would you mind telling me what room she is in, then?" Sean asked.

"She'll be in 305, but you probably won't be able to see her until after the CAT scan," the clerk said.

"Great, that's just great," Sean said dryly. "Nice of someone to come and tell me that."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"It's not your fault. After all, I sit here for an hour and a half and then get up for five minutes and, in that time, something finally happens. I would like to see a doctor or a nurse who knows what is going on with my wife, please. Can you please locate such a person for me, thank you," he said curtly.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

Sean rolled his eyes and stepped away from the desk. A couple minutes later, the nurse he had talked to when Tiffany first came in approached.

"Mr. Donely, there you are," the nurse said. "Your wife's in ICU and she's going to have a CAT scan as soon as they're able to stop the bleeding. Dr. Weinstein says there's definitely been some hemorrhaging into her brain. She's conscious now, but apparently her vision has been adversely affected."

"What does that mean?" he said.

"She told us that she's only seeing shadows. It's really not uncommon in situations like this, the swelling is probably pressing on the optic nerve. We just need to take a look at that and pinpoint where the problem is."

"Can I see her?"

"For a minute. But we need to monitor her closely and we can't have her agitated in any way."

"I'm not going to agitate her, I just want to see her," Sean said forcefully.

"I understand," she said, leading him down the hallway. "But right now, the slightest thing can agitate her. When we say 'agitate,' we're not talking about something stressful, we're really talking about any excessive emotion at all. With a brain injury such as this, even positive things can overstimulate a patient and be harmful. So you can go in for a minute, just to let her know you're here. Don't talk at all about what happened to her, OK?"

"Yes, I won't."

The nurse handed Sean a sealed envelope. "We had to take off her jewelry, everything's in there, you can doublecheck to be sure."

Sean peered into the envelope. He saw her gold necklace and the brightly colored rainbow earrings that he always teased her about. Her wedding ring, her engagement ring and the diamond ring that he gave her were nestled at the bottom of the packet. He tucked the envelope into his inside jacket pocket and patted it for safe keeping.

The nurse pushed open the door to the intensive care unit and Sean stepped in. Tiffany was lying on the bed, all kinds of tubes and monitors protruding from her hospital gown. He stepped in closer, her blue eyes were staring up at the ceiling almost blankly.

"Sweetheart?" he said softly.

Tiffany's brow furrowed. "Who's there?"

"Baby, it's me."

"Who are you?" The fact that his voice didn't register on her face bothered him.

Sean turned and looked at the nurse.

"It's me, Sean." Still no flicker of recognition.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

Sean stiffened. The nurse turned to lead him to the door.

"We're going to have to stop there," she explained when they were outside and the door had closed. "I'm going to get Dr. Weinstein."

"My wife didn't recognize my own voice," Sean said.

"This isn't unusual in cases like this," the nurse said.

"What do you mean in cases like this? It's unusual to me," Sean responded, grasping her arm.

"Let me get the doctor, he needs to know about this," she said, pulling herself away.

Sean looked through the door again at his wife in the bed. His hand reached for the door and he wanted to push it open and try to talk to her again, but the nurse's words of warning just a few minutes ago kept him from doing so. He gazed through the door for a few minutes, until the nurse came back with Dr. Weinstein.

"Dr…" he started.

"I need to go in there and see her, Mr. Donely," he said. "I'll come back out in a couple of minutes, OK?"

Sean watched as the doctor walked into the room and over to Tiffany's bed.

"Ms. Hill, it's Dr. Weinstein," he said.

"Someone was just in here," Tiffany said. "I didn't know him, but he seemed to know me."

"It's nothing to worry about, he just had the wrong room," the doctor said.

"Oh," Tiffany said, and she would have pondered it further but she had a serious headache.

"How do you feel right now?"

"Well besides not being able to focus very well, I feel terrible," she said. "My head is just pounding. Do you know what's wrong with me?"

"We're going to be running some tests very soon and that should give us a better idea," the doctor said.

"I don't know if I was dreaming this or not, but I could have sworn I heard my friend Robert's voice a little earlier," Tiffany said.

"No, you weren't dreaming," the doctor said gently. "I asked him to wait while we ran some further tests on you. He told me to tell you he won't be going anywhere until he knows you're all right."

"That does sound like Robert," Tiffany said.

"OK, you rest. I'll be back in a couple of minutes."

"You're the doctor," Tiffany said, leaning back on the pillow.

Dr. Weinstein exited the room and Sean all but tackled him when he came out the door.

"Well?" Sean asked.

"She seems to be suffering from a bit of lost memory, Mr. Donely," Dr. Weinstein said as gently as he could.

"A bit of lost memory? She doesn't remember her husband of 21 years, doctor."

"That may be temporary. A lot of times when there is swelling on the brain, it can affect the memory adversely. We're going to have to wait and see. The CAT scan will tell us more."

"Wait and see? Wait and see! Fabulous," Sean said.

"If you want to take your daughter home, I can give you a call as soon as the results are in," Dr. Weinstein said.

"I'm not going anywhere."

"This could be awhile," he said.

"Then I will be here awhile," Sean retorted.

"Very well. I'll page you when I know more or if there is any change in your wife's condition," Dr. Weinstein said.

"Fine, thank you."

Sean took a last look through the window at his wife. And he wondered how he was going to explain it all to his daughter when he didn't know what to do himself.


	12. Chapter 12

Sean exited the hospital doors looking at his feet. Robert knew his friend's mannerisms pretty well, and he'd rarely seen him look defeated, but he definitely did now.

"Dad!" Maren said, rushing over to him.

"Hi baby," he said, wrapping her in his arms. It felt so good for Sean to have her need him right now, because he was hurting.

"How is Mom?" Maren said.

Sean pulled away and held his daughter's hands. "Come sit with me," he said gently, pulling over to a bench.

"It's not good news," Maren said. "I can tell."

"I know you can. I think I taught you too much too soon," he said, forcing a smile.

"Is she still conscious?" Robert asked.

"Yes, she's conscious. They admitted her, she's in the ICU now and they're going to take her for a CAT scan – that's a scan of her brain, Maren – as soon as they can."

"But…," Maren added.

"But she's having some trouble with her vision…" Sean said.

"She can't see anything?" Maren fretted.

"She can see shadows, but nothing in focus." Sean said.

"And…"

"I just can't get away with anything with you and your mother," Sean said.

"No, you can't. So stop trying." Maren said.

"And … she's having some recall issues," Sean said.

"Recall? She can't remember things? Like she doesn't remember what happened to us?" Maren asked.

"Yeah," Sean said, looking at the ground. Robert narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Baby, I'm going to stay here, but I really think you need to go get some rest."

"Dad, I want to stay here with you," Maren said.

"Honey, I know you do. But it's going to be quite a while before we hear anything and you've been through so much already," Sean said softly. "I called Grace's parents and her mom said she'd be glad to have you over tonight."

"But…"

"Please, baby," Sean pleaded.

"OK, all right, I'll go. But I won't like it," Maren said.

"I know, sweetheart. Lt. Mitchell's coming by to drive you over there."

"You'll call me when you hear anything."

"Yes, I will. Please do what I say and just go there and have a good time."

"OK," Maren said dejectedly

A honk from the parking lot caught their attention.

"There she is," Sean said, picking Maren up in her arms. "Come on, baby. Say goodbye to Uncle Robert."

"Goodbye, Uncle Robert."

"Night, luv. I'll see you real soon."

"Not if I see you first," Maren winked.

"Very clever. Not sure which one of your parents you got that from."

"Both," Maren said, blowing a kiss as her dad carried her to the car.

Sean kissed his daughter on both cheeks and put her down so she could walk to the passenger side of the car. He leaned over to whisper to Lt. Mitchell. "I want a guard on the Harris' home as long as she's over there."

"Yes, sir," Lt. Mitchell said as Maren got in the car.

"Bye baby, I love you," Sean said.

"Love you, Dad," Maren said and the cruiser pulled away. Sean could see his daughter watch him until the car turned the corner and he was out of sight.

"So what's the real story?" Robert said.

"I'm surprised you held your tongue as long as you did," Sean responded.

"Well, I'm not often noted for it, but I do have tact when it's called for."

"Robert, she didn't recognize my voice," Sean said mournfully.

"What?"

"She didn't recognize my name even." He reached for the packet of jewelry the nurse had given him, pulling out Tiffany's wedding ring and fidgeted with it.

"How can that be? She recognized my voice."

"I know. The hemorrhaging in her brain. It seems to have affected her memory."

"Will she get better?" Robert queried.

"If it's caused by the swelling, it could be sooner than later. But it might be the damage from one of the blows. How soon until Drake gets here?"

"It shouldn't be too long. Let's get some coffee."

"I don't want coffee," Sean said.

"I know you don't. Let's go anyway."

Sean put the ring back into the envelope and tucked it back into his pocket, then he let his friend lead him to the hospital cafeteria.

They hadn't been there for 10 minutes when Mattison showed up.

"Well if it isn't the leader of the World Security Bureau, or make that World Secret Bureau," Sean said. "As in the keeper of many secrets."

"You're talking about Stanton, I assume," Mattison said.

"I am."

"You gonna pop me like you did him?"

"I was seriously considering it," Sean admitted.

"I'm going to try to remember that you're dealing with some emotional stuff right now and remind you that it hasn't been so long since you were a part of the bureau that you can't remember what the words 'deep undercover' mean," Mattison said.

"Which is bureaucracy lingo for 'too damn bad'," Sean said.

"I'm not here to argue with you, Donely. You have something that you didn't want to hand over to my agent?"

Sean reached into his other jacket pocket and pulled out the envelope that Stanton had hid in his wife's bandages. His hands trembled as he realized that it was covered in his wife's now-dried blood. Mattison reached for it and Sean let it slip through his fingers, but didn't stop staring at it.

"Thank you, Sean," Mattison said sympathetically. "I'm sorry that your wife was injured."

Sean's patience for this conversation was at an end. He nodded, Mattison looked over at Robert, who nodded as well, and Mattison got up to leave.

"Robert, she lost so much blood," he said and a fresh wave of horror washed over him.

"I know, mate."

Sean wiped at his hands as if his wife's blood was still on them, literally and figuratively.

"I don't know what to do. I have no idea what to do, Robert. Please, tell me what to do."

"The only thing we can do right now is await the results of the tests," Robert said. "That'll tell a lot. There's no reason to worry about what may or may not happen yet."

"OK, I know you're right. It's just this waiting. Really grates on every last nerve," Sean said. "I keep thinking of her face when I went in that room. She just had no idea who I was. All the years we've spent together, all the good times, even the bad times, just gone like that. This morning she loved me. It's disheartening."

"She loves you," Robert said. "I don't have any doubt of that. In fact, I'd go so far as to say if there's one thing I've ever been certain of in this whole crazy world of ours, it's that Tiffany loves Sean. No matter what stupid thing this Irishman has ever said or done, she has always adored him."

That finally elicited a chuckle from Sean. "And actually I was much more concerned for her well-being many, many, many more times before now." Sean's smile faded. "I should have quit while I was ahead, shouldn't I?" Robert said, berating himself for losing the reins.

"It was a good try, ol' buddy," Sean admitted.

Robert's cell phone buzzed to the "Beverly Hills Cop" theme song. "Dr. Drake, I presume," he said. "Welcome to Boston. You're at the hospital already? Well, we're in the cafeteria. Come join us here as soon as you can and we'll buy you a cup of Java."


	13. Chapter 13

Noah looked over Tiffany's chart, poring over all the medical data. But what he was thinking of were the news reports he had seen on the plane of the ordeal she had just been through. He had seen her a couple of times in the years since their brief romance and she was always cordial, never showing any signs of the hurt he had seen in their eyes when they had broken it off for good and he left for Atlanta. He chocked that up to the fact that she had finally found happiness with Sean Donely. His daughter-in-law often spoke fondly of the Donelys, who had seen her through many rough times when she was younger. Dr. Weinstein approached him as he closed the chart.

"We'll have the CAT scan details in a few minutes, but I thought you might want to see the patient first," the doctor said.

"Yes," Noah said.

Dr. Weinstein led him into Tiffany's room. Noah smiled to himself, she was still quite striking, and he smiled to himself at the recognition of that.

"Tiff," he said.

"Noah," Tiffany purred. "I'm so glad you're here. Finally something that makes sense."

Noah paused awkwardly. "How do you feel?"

"How do I feel?" she asked. "Not great. I can't see you and my head feels like scrambled eggs."

"That's natural, you suffered a pretty bad blow, I hear," Noah said.

"I don't remember what happened," she said. "I can't really remember much of anything as a matter of fact. I feel a bit like I'm in a fog."

"We should be getting your CAT scan results in a few minutes and I'm sure that'll tell us a lot," Noah said. "I'm going to check you out a bit, OK?"

"I've never minded that," Tiffany said with as much of a smile as she could muster.

Noah perched himself on the side of her bed. He took his penlight out of his pocket and flashed it in her eyes, from side to side, to note the retinal response. There was very little movement. "Is the light bothering you at all?"

"Hmmm, no. It seems very far away," Tiff said.

"I'm going to look under your bandage here," he said, leaning over and peering under the dressing on the side of her head.

"How does it look?" she asked.

"About as good as your makeup job on Bride of Godzilla," Noah quipped.

"That bad, huh?"

Noah looked at the bruise on the other side of her head, it was already a deep purple color.

"You all right?" she said, feeling some strange vibrations from her doctor.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just concerned about you," Noah said plaintively.

"I'll be fine as long as you're taking care of me," she said.

Noah smiled, she hadn't lost an iota of her charm, that was for sure.

"OK, I'm going to go find out where those results are and then I'll come back in and talk to you some more."

"OK, darling."

Noah tensed up a little at her response. He patted her side before turning to leave the room. He walked out and right into Robert and Sean.

"I thought I was going to meet you in the cafeteria," Noah said, slightly unsettled about leaving Tiffany only to walk right into her concerned husband.

"Noah, have you met Sean Donely?" Robert offered.

"I believe I've seen him on occasion but we've never been introduced. I have heard many good things from daughter-in-law," Noah said. "It's nice to meet you, Sean."

"You as well, Dr. Drake," Sean said as positively as he could. "Well, what do you think about my wife's condition?"

"I'm still waiting for the test results, but I'm pretty sure we're dealing with two different issues as a result of the two different blows she suffered," Noah said. "There's the memory loss, we're going to have to wait for the swelling to go down in her brain before any resolution on that front. The vision issue is being caused by pressure on her optic nerve. The reduction in swelling also might alleviate that or we can go in and take care of that surgically if we have to. Either way, we're going to have to wait this out a little bit."

"Did she recognize you?" Sean said.

Noah paused, bit his lip and looked down at the ground, and Sean knew the answer before he said it. "Yes, she did."

Sean turned away from the two men his wife had responded to. Noah stepped forward and was about to speak, but Robert put his hand between them and shook his head "don't."

"I'll go see about those CAT scan results," Noah said.

"Thanks," Robert said.

Sean sunk against the wall. "Why? I don't understand why."

"There is no why when it comes to these things and you know that as much as I do," Robert said. "But you heard what he said, she could be fine in just a couple of days."

"What I heard is my wife's ex-lover tell me that she recognized him," Sean said.

"Sean, that was a long, long time ago," Robert said.

"Not to Tiffany, it wasn't," Sean said and voicing that fear just about sunk him. He slumped against the wall, head in his hands.

"Can I do something for you?" Robert asked.

"Yeah, go see her. Make sure she's OK, just take care of her like I would."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to sit here and wait for the test results."

"OK," Robert said, patting his shoulder. He walked over to Tiffany's room, gently rapped on the door. "Mind some company?" he said in his most charming manner.

"From my favorite former WSB agent, never," Tiffany responded in kind.

Robert cringed as he entered, glad that she couldn't see his face and doubly so that his friend was far enough away that he didn't hear his wife's reply.

"Noah was just in here, I understand," Robert said.

"Yes. He … I don't know, he seemed kind of strange," Tiffany admitted.

"Strange how?"

"Strange, distant. I don't know, he didn't seem like himself."

"I think he's just focusing on taking care of you," Robert said.

"I guess so, I never really thought of how different he'd be if I was his patient. His bedside manner has always been pretty good, ya know."

"Well, you're in pretty bad shape here, Tiff," Robert said.

"Flatterer. Don't I know it. I can't see anything but light and dark and I can't remember how I got here," she said. "I guess I should be worrying about that a lot more than Noah's state of mind. But I guess he did kind of get my mind off of it."

"Can I get you anything or do anything for you?"

"No…," her voice trailed off. "It's strange. I feel like there's something I need, but for the life of me, I can just not figure out what it is."

"Well, I'm going to be around for a while to make sure you're OK. And the staff says I can't hang out in here constantly, but you need anything, you get someone to page me and I'll take care of it."

"Thanks, sweetheart. How about a nice big hug?"

"Coming right up," he said, leaning over to hug Tiffany.

"Owww," she said reflexively.

"Sorry, luv, you have so many bumps and bruises, it's hard to avoid them," Robert said. "I'll see you soon." He kissed his forefingers and pressed them to her lips before leaving.

Sean jumped to his feet as Robert left. "She's OK," Robert said. "I think she's so out of it that she doesn't feel scared. She's all right. She seems to be in survivor mode. I'm going to go make some calls to the people back in Port Charles, there are a lot of people worried about her right now. I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Sean nodded as Robert walked off. He looked back through the window at his wife. As Noah walked up he noted Sean's pained expression.

"Sean, it's just as we suspected. A lot of swelling in her brain in two locations. One spot right above the optic nerve and the other part by her cortex. Once we get the swelling to subside, we'll know if we need to operate or not. A lot of times, it's not necessary. If I'm going to be honest though, I'll have to say that because the bleeding was so severe especially by the optic nerve that she'll probably at least have to undergo laser surgery to clear that out once she has stabilized."

"I understand," Sean said. "Are you going to tell her all that?"

"I'll tell her everything I just told you," Noah said. "As far as this severe memory loss she's experiencing, it's my opinion that we not tell her about that at this point. Any agitation in the already irritated areas of her brain could prove even more detrimental. We can't be sure about that, but I don't think we should risk it either."

"We'll handle it the way you think is best. Thanks for telling me."

"Not a problem," Noah said. "I'm going to go talk to Tiffany." He hesitated for a moment and turned back to Sean. "You know, Sean, you're going through a lot too and there are people here at Boston Memorial who can help you deal with it if you want."

"Oh yeah, I'll just join the support group for people whose spouses don't remember them, should be a blast."

"Wasn't really what I was thinking of, but there are resources here if you or your daughter need them."

Sean softened at the mention of his daughter and nodded. Noah turned and entered Tiffany's room.


	14. Chapter 14

Sean noted that Noah looked shaken when he came out Tiffany's room. "Is she all right?"

Robert approached as Noah took a pause, glancing at them both before looking down at the ground. "She's fine. She's stabilized and I think she'll stay that way if we don't press the issue."

It was Sean's turn to avert his eyes. "I'm assuming that means not telling her about how severe her memory loss is," Robert says. Noah nodded. "I have an idea," Robert continued. "An idea that'll allow Sean to stay close."

"OK, what?" Sean inquired.

"What if I introduce him as a WSB friend of mine under the guise of keeping her protected?" Robert says. "She already thinks we're acting strangely, if we work off that, admit she was involved in a dangerous situation and that we need to keep her under her protection, I think she'll buy it."

"What do you think, doctor?" Sean queried, finally mustering up some hope.

Noah mulled it over for a second. "It's a bit of a risk, but it'll also explain some things she's already questioning, so it seems like a sound idea. But we can't go farther than that."

"I understand," Sean said.

"I'll come in with you, just to make sure she stays stable," Noah said.

The trio of men entered Tiffany's room. "Hi Tiff," Robert said brightly.

"Robert, welcome back."

"Tiff, there's something that we haven't told you."

"Just one thing?' Tiff asked. Sean smiled under his breath, hearing his wife's fighting spirit emerge made him feel a little better.

"The reason you're here … there was a hostage situation and you were caught in it," Robert said. "You don't remember any of it?"

"Uhhh, no," Tiffany said. "What happened?"

"You kind of got caught in the crossfire and we haven't caught up to all the perpetrators, so it's the WSB's idea … and mine too … that we keep round-the-clock protection around you."

"If you think it's necessary," she said.

"I do," Robert said. "Anyway, I don't know if you remember me telling you about someone I used work with at the WSB … Sean Donely … but I trust him with my life, so I hope you'll trust him with yours."

"Sean Donely?" Tiff said, trying to search her faulty memory banks for a mention of him. "I don't know."

"Don't try too hard to remember, Tiff," Noah said. "It's all right if you don't. Like I told you, it's going to take some time."

"The name sounds vaguely familiar," she continued. Sean sighed with relief. "Were you the one who is in here before?" she said, addressing Sean.

"Yes," Sean said. "I was looking for Robert, I thought he might have already let you in on the plan. I'm sorry about that, Ms. Hill."

"It's perfectly alright, Mr. Donely," Tiffany responded.

"Please, it's Sean."

"OK, Sean." Tiffany flinched as some sort of memory she couldn't grasp flickered by her.

"So Sean's going to be here when I can't be," Robert said.

"If you trust him, I certainly do," Tiffany said.

"Thank you, Miss Hill," Sean replied formally.

"If you're Sean, then please call me Tiffany."

"Tiffany then, fine, thank you."

Tiffany flinched again as another stream of consciousness eluded her. Noah stepped forward. "I think that's enough for now. Tiffany really needs her rest."

"I have to go to debriefing, Tiff," Robert said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I've heard that routine before, Robert," Tiff replied brightly. "I'll see you when I see you. Or I won't see you when I see you actually."

Robert chuckled. "That's my girl." He kissed the top of her head. "Back soon." He put his hand comfortingly on Sean before exiting.

"Sean, you can stay in this room to guard her if you must, but you have to allow her to get her rest," Noah said.

"I will," Sean said truthfully.

"Tiff, I've got some things to do, so I'll be back later," Noah said.

"That's alright, hon." Noah looked at a stung Sean. Noah patted Tiffany comfortingly on the side, glancing at Sean sympathetically and left the room.

"If you need anything, Tiffany, let me know."

"I will, Sean," she said, letting her eyes drift closed.

Sean looked down at his hands, which were shaking. He walked over to a chair by the door, picking it up quietly and moving it closer to Tiffany's bed. He sat down and just watched his wife fall asleep.

Sean too had drifted off to sleep when his phone started to play the Eva Cassidy song "You Take My Breath Away," Maren's ringtone. He quickly got up out of the chair, looking at the stirring Tiffany as he stepped out of her room.

"Hi baby," he said softly.

"Dad, how are you? How's Mom?" Maren asked.

"She's resting comfortably, sweetheart."

"How about you?"

"Resting uncomfortably," he chuckled.

"Oh, Dad. You can be so silly," Maren chided.

"Why aren't you asleep?"

"Asleep? After the day I had today?"

"I would have expected you to sack out for at least a week," Sean said.

"I'm kind of wired," she said.

"I know the feeling, but you really need some rest," Sean said.

"Well so do you."

"Hey, I was napping when you called," Sean said.

"Oh sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you know I love to hear from my favorite daughter."

"Dad, I'm your only daughter."

"Makes it easy to play favorites."

"Are you going to stop avoiding the issue and tell me something about Mom?"

"Mom's going to be in the hospital for a few days."

"Any change at all?"

"Well, she's stabilized, which is excellent. But the doctors say she has some swelling in her brain and that's causing the vision and memory loss."

"I'm glad she's stable, but…"

"Uh uh uh, no buts," Sean interrupted. "We're going to be happy she's stable and if she keeps improving…"

"…When she keeps improving…" Maren's turn to interrupt.

"Right, when she keeps improving, the doctors will make the decision of whether surgery is necessary or not. There's no reason to worry right now, sweetheart."

"Then why do you sound so worried?"

"Smart girl. You sure take after your mom. I never could put anything over on her."

"Why are you worried?"

"Baby, I'm not. I'm sitting in her room watching over her, making sure everything stays the way it should and she gets the rest she needs."

"When can I come see her?"

"We'll have to wait for the doctor's OK for that. Maybe a couple of days."

"But why? Wouldn't she feel better to have me around?"

"I know I would, but let's just do what the doctor says for now."

"It's not fair."

"It certainly isn't, I definitely agree."

"But you're not going to go against doctors' orders, are you?" Maren asked.

"Not at this point, no."

"OK. Make sure she knows I love her."

"She definitely knows that, baby. And don't forget I love you too."

"I won't, Daddy. Night."

"Night, sweetheart."

They both held on to the line, waiting for the other to hang up. The connection disconnected itself for inactivity after about a minute.

Sean walked back in the room and quietly retook his place on the chair.

"Something wrong?" Tiffany said.

"Sorry, did the phone wake you?"

"It's OK."

"No, everything's fine." Sean took a breath. "It was just my daughter."

"Oh, that's nice. A child who actually calls their parent. I hope mine does someday."

"I'm sure he or she will," Sean said.

"What's her name?" Sean froze, unable to speak. "You do know her name, right, Sean? I'm the one with the memory problem."

Sean chuckled. "Of course, her name is Maren."

Tiffany considered the name for a moment. "Maren. That's pretty."

"Thank you, my wife and I always thought so," Sean said measuredly.

A sense of familiarity washed over Tiffany.

"You OK?" Sean said after seeing the look cross her face.

"Yeah, fine. Didn't hurt a bit."

"Good," Sean said and watched his wife close her eyes and drift back off.


	15. Chapter 15

The next morning, Noah entered Tiffany's room to a chorus of Sean's snoring. He glanced over at his patient, who was lying in bed with an amused look on her face, her blue eyes gazing off into a distance she couldn't quite see.

"Morning, Tiff," Noah finally said.

"Oh, morning," she said, seeming impossibly too cheerful considering her situation.

"Has he been doing that long?"

"Only six or so hours," Tiffany admitted.

"Six hours, why didn't you wake him up and make him stop?"

"I don't know, there's something kind of endearing about it."

Noah harrumphed.

"What's the matter, darling? Jealous?"

Now that she mentioned it, Noah did have a twinge of jealousy. "Of course not. Sitting on that uncomfortable chair all night does not sound like a good time to me."

Tiffany let that remark pass. "So how am I feeling this morning?"

"That's supposed to be my question," Noah said.

"Oh sorry, well, I guess besides the fact that I still can't see that handsome face of yours, I guess I feel all right."

"Glad to hear it," Noah said.

"What about this Donely character?"

"What about him?" Noah asked, unsure of where she was going with that.

"Would he be considered handsome?"

"I'm sure you would think so," Noah smiled.

"Hmm, interesting," Tiffany purred. "It's true though, those WSB agents do cut some dashing figures."

"So we'll be doing another CAT scan in a couple hours, just to make sure everything's going along the way we want it to."

"Flirt time is over, I guess," Tiffany said. "Or with me, anyway."

"So many patients, so little time," Noah said, a little too ebulliently for Tiffany's taste. "I'll check in on you before that, OK?"

"Yes, that will be amenable to me," she said and heard the door close behind Noah. The snoring continued. "Sean?"

"What is it, baby?" a groggy Sean said as he awoke from his slumber.

"Baby?" she asked and that quickly brought Sean out of his sleepy daze.

"Sorry … uh, Tiff. Was dreaming about my wife."

"Hope she likes snoring."

"Yeah, actually she doesn't mind it too much."

"One in a million," Tiffany said.

"I'll say," Sean said truthfully. "Did you need something or were you just trying to stop the cacophony?"

"Not really. I thought you might want to take some time off though. You know grab some breakfast, get a shower and a shave, something like that."

"I can wait until Robert gets here."

"Do I really need to be under this kind of surveillance? Is some kind of bank robber really going to waltz in here at 8:30 in the morning and try something?"

Sean smiled. He remembered yet again why he loved his wife so much. "Best not to tempt the fates, my dear."

Tiffany leaned back in her bed.

About an hour later, Robert popped his head in the door.

"Morning, lovely," he said.

"You're not talking to me, are you?" Sean asked.

"No way, at least not until you shower and change your clothes," Robert teased.

"Hmm, it's like tagteam with you two," Sean said, enjoying the familiarity. "I'll see you later, Tiffany."

"And I won't see you later, Mr. Donely," Tiffany retorted with a cheeky smile as he left. "He gone?"

"Yep, all gone."

"Sometimes I get the feeling that he might pretend to leave only to stay here and watch me."

"I wouldn't put it past him. You two getting along OK?" Robert queried.

"Yeah, he's very nice."

"I think he likes you."

"Don't be silly, he's obviously very much in love with his wife … and his daughter."

"I wouldn't doubt that for a moment," Robert responded.

"So did you … if you'll pardon the expression, get debriefed," Tiffany teased.

"That always has been my favorite part of the day," Robert retaliated. "Oh, wait, you're talking about the WSB…"

"Yes, Robert, by the WSB," Tiffany said.

"Been debriefed 'til they just couldn't get anything more outta me," Robert said.

"Uh huh," she said. "What about me? When do I get to be debriefed on this little caper?"

"Ah ah ahhhhh… you know what the good doctor has to say on that issue," Robert said.

"As a matter of fact, I do. And I'm not enjoying it one lick," Tiffany said.

"Oh come on, Tiff. I know how you love to be waited on hand and foot," Robert said.

"Somehow it is NOT the same in a hospital bed," she said.

"Noah been here?" Robert said.

"Yep, I'm going for another CAT scan in a few hours. Oh joy," she said.

"It's not that bad."

"You're right, it's worse. If you don't have a splitting headache going in there, you're certainly going to have one coming out with all the noise that machine makes. I wanna go home."

"Uh uh uh, it's way too early to even think of that," Robert said.

"Why, can't I rest just as easily at home as I could here?" Robert fell silent. "A-ha, don't have a snappy comeback to that one, do ya?"

"How's this: No!"

"I think it stinks," Tiffany said.

"I rather thought you would."

Just then, a nurse wheeled her cart into the room. "Breakfast!" she said cheerily.

"Speaking of stinking," Tiff said under her breath.

"Got some toast, orange juice and jello for you," the nurse said. "Want me to help you?"

"No thanks, hon, that's what I have him for," she said, gesturing in Robert's direction.

Robert, picking up the cue, scooped up a spoonful of Jello. "OK, open up, here comes the choo-choo."

The nurse, rolling her eyes, exited quickly. "Are you serious?" Tiffany said and as she did, Robert artfully maneuvered the spoon in her mouth.

"Tastes just like … Jello," Tiff said. "The least they could do would be to give me some whipped cream."

"I don't think they're allowed to serve you anything in here that tastes too good, Tiff," Robert replied.

"I'm quite sure of it. I'm almost glad I can't see it and whatever stupid faces you're making at me while feeding me."

Robert stopped mid-monkey face. Tiffany couldn't see it, but she could feel him freeze and let out a hearty laugh. "Owwww. Robert, c'mon."

"So much for laughter being the best medicine," he said.

Noah entered. "What is going on in here? It's not supposed to be a party, you know."

"Wherever Robert Scorpio is is always a party, you know that, Noah," Tiffany said. "Any chance I can have side-by-side CAT scans with him, we really do need to find out what makes that brain of his tick."

"Sorry, party of one, Ms. Hill," Noah said, helping her out of bed and into her wheelchair.

"I'll work on the wheelchair race course while you're gone, luv."

Tiffany smiled as Noah wheeled her out.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

A couple of days later, Sean's Jaguar pulled up in front of the Harris house.

"Yippee, Dad's not on duty!" Maren said excitedly, running out of the house and into her father's arms.

"Hi baby!" he said, almost as excited as she was. "It's so good to see you."

"You too," Maren kissed him on both sides of his face, on his forehead, on the top of his head, just like her mother did when she was extremely happy. "Do I finally get to come home?"

"Not quite yet, Maren," he said.

"C'mon, it's almost my 15th birthday and all I want is to come home and spend it with you and my mother!" she said.

"That's really all you want and nothing else?" Sean teased.

"Yes, really and truly," she put her on most serious face and stared down her father.

"I swear the two of you have the exact same tricks with me," Sean said.

"You always Always ALWAYS get me what I want, and that's what I want," Maren said.

"OK, honey, I'm working on it, OK?"

"Really? Really really really really really?"

"Yes really, really … how many reallys was that?"

"Five … or six if you include the first one."

"Really really really really really really!"

"Oh Daddy, that's so great."

"But there are going to be some restrictions."

"Here it comes," Maren sighed.

"Dr. Drake she might be able to come home in a couple of days, if she keeps improving like she has," Sean said.

"Well that sounds good," Maren said.

"But…"

"Here come the buts." Maren interrupted.

"I'll tell you about the buts while we're doing something for your mom, now get in!" Sean said.

"Awright!" Maren said, racing around to the other side of the car and climbing in. "What are we doing?"

"Your mom is sick of that hospital food. So I think we should go get a feast for her with everything she'll like."

"Oh cool! Great idea, Dad."

"I thought so," Sean said. "You choose."

"We need the clam chowder from Kelly's … oh, oh, Bangers and Mash from The Peddler's Daughter…"

"That's my girl, a fine Irish choice," Sean said.

"And lobster from Café Fleuri! And then when she gets sick from eating all of that at once, she'll be in the right place."

Sean laughed heartily for the first time in days and they tore down the street to procure the meal for Tiffany.

Ninety minutes later, Sean's Jag was back in front of the Harris' house.

"Now be sure to remember everything she says about all of it. I want to hear every word since I can't be there to see it in person," Maren said.

"You will in a few days," Sean said.

"Yeah, except I just can't act like she's my mom. I hate that."

"I don't like it much either, honey, but it's what is best for her and we have to want that."

"I do, Dad, but I just miss her so much." Maren choked up a little. "I never realized I would miss her so much."

"I know, baby. Somewhere in her heart, she's missing you too, and I have to believe that that very thought is what's going to bring her back to us, whether she has to have that surgery or not."

"You believe so much that I do too," Maren said, throwing her arms around her dad's neck.

"I love you, baby," Sean said as she ran up the stairs, but he instinctively was watching movement on the street more than he was watching her go. "Call me!"

"I will! Bye, Dad!" She disappeared into the house and Sean exhaled. He got out of the car and popped up beside Lt. Mitchell in an unmarked car a couple of houses away.

"There hasn't been any strange activity around here at all, you're sure?" he said.

"None at all, chief."

"Glad to hear it. I'm not certain it's all over, but just keep up the good work."

"Will do. How's your wife?"

"She's OK, but no real change. I have to go. You know where I am if you need me."

Sean hopped back in his car and headed to the hospital.

An hour later, he popped his head into Tiffany's hotel room. She was lying in bed like usual, but she didn't seem to be as cheerful as he had gotten accustomed to seeing her.

"Tiffany? What's wrong?"

"Hi Sean. … Ahhhh … Nothing … everything… I've just had it up to here with all of this."

"Well don't despair, for dinner is served."

"There's a reason to use 'despair' in the same sentence as 'dinner' around here, just not the way you did."

Sean wheeled in his cart of Maren's selected goodies.

"Wait a minute, either I've lost another one of my senses or something actually smells good in here," Tiffany proclaimed.

"Well, I'm not going to page the good doctor, because I really think it is the latter," Sean retorted. "My daughter was feeling bad about you being all cooped up in here, so she sent me on a bit of a treasure hunt to get some of her favorite foods, which I sincerely hope you like."

"Hey, it's not the hospital's diet gruel, what's not to like?"

"So, we have some clam chowder, and a little dish that my ancestors like to call bangers and mash and the piece de resistance, lobster," Sean said.

"Your daughter has admirable taste, I was expecting a burger and some crinkle fries or something like that," Tiffany said.

"Yes, she does. Takes after her mother," he said, adjusting her bed so that Tiffany was sitting straight up.

"OK, I will place them all in front of you and you can eat at your leisure. Don't even mind if you use your hands. Now at 9 o'clock is the chowder and at 3 o'clock is the lobster. Right in the middle of the dial are the bangers and mash. Let me know if you will be requiring any assistance."

"Wow, this is really amazing. Thank Maren for me," Tiffany said, taking a beat after saying it for what was becoming a familiar warm flicker of a feeling. She dove into the lobster first, expertly extracting the meat from the claws and popping a piece into her mouth. "Ohmigoodness, this is just delicious."

"That's very impressive," Sean said. "There's a 9.5 degree of difficulty with that maneuver if you can't actually see what you're doing."

Tiffany put the claw down, reached for another and skillfully pulled out the meat. "Here you try," she said, offering him the piece she had extracted. Sean started to lean over to snatch out from her hand in a time-honored tradition that they had concocted as husband and wife, but thought the better of it just before he did and merely took it from her hand.

"Thank you, just delicious," he said. "A lot better than that vending machine stuff I've been existing on this week."

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's my fault you always have to be here."

"No, it's not. I shouldn't have made it sound that way."

"Right, it's your job."

An awkward pause hung in the air. "My job," he repeated. The air was getting too heavy between them. "Try the chowder. I should have said to eat that first, because it was actually the first thing we got for you."

Tiffany fixed her hands around the cup and popped open the lid. Sean slid a spoon into her hand. "Thank you," she said softly. She picked up the cup and spooned some out, lifting the cup to the lips with the spoon to avoid getting it all over herself. "This is fabulous, did you get this from Kelly's?" she asked.

Sean knew she meant the Kelly's in Port Charles and not the Kelly's in Boston, but he answered affirmatively anyway. "Kelly's makes the best clam chowder," she said.

"I agree," Sean added.

"Here have some," she said, passing the spoon and the cup to him. Their hands briefly touched and she pulled away quickly.

"Ummm, let me try this now," she said, lifting the tin off the plate of bangers and mash. The steam rose into the air. "This really smells amazing."

"Want me to cut you a piece," Sean asked.

"No, no, I'm OK, I got it," Tiffany said, slicing off a piece that was a bit too small. "It's really really good, thank you so much for doing this, Sean, and please again thanks Maren for me."

"It was our pleasure," he said, taking a spoonful of the clam chowder and sort of enjoying the fact that his mouth was where her lips had been just a minute ago.


	17. Chapter 17

A couple of days later, Noah walked in Tiffany's room in the early morning hours. In what was becoming a familiar scene between them, they joked about Sean's snoring and her daily CAT scan.

"Only this time if the CAT scan is the same, we're going to outpatient you into Mr. Donely's custody," Noah said brightly.

Tiffany stopped smiling. That was a bit of a sticking point for her. She didn't want to seem ungrateful but she wondered why the man who was a virtual stranger to her for a week always bent over backwards and Noah never seemed to go beyond the call of duty. She wished she could see his face to confirm her suspicions, frustrating her even further.

"Something wrong?" Noah said.

"No," she said. "Same time as usual? Not that I can tell it by the clock, mind you, but I have gotten pretty good at judging the position of the sun coming through my window."

"Yes, same time. See you then," Noah said as he sidled out.

"Bye," she said half-heartedly.

Her curiosity was getting the best of her a bit, she crept out from under the blankets and inched her way along the side of the bed until she was seated in front of the blurry snoring figure in front of her. She ran her hand down the outline of Sean's face, she wasn't touching him at first, but her hand kept moving closer until she actually did make contact.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Sean said in a sleep-coated raspy voice that tweaked Tiffany's insides. She took her hand away when he started caressing her cheek in similar fashion. Tiffany reached out again, disoriented, and fell off the bed and right into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Sean," she said, reaching back to brace herself against the bed. She pulled herself back up and she could feel him staring at her, even though she couldn't see his face.

"No, it's all right," he said, covering from the surprise of all of it. "Are you OK? Did something happen?"

"No," Tiffany said, and even she didn't believe herself. "No." She reached up to her forehead, her head was hurting but she didn't want to say anything and be kept in that hospital for even one more day.

"Are you having headaches? Do you want me to find Noah?"

No, don't find Noah, she screamed inside. "No," she finally said out loud. "I'll see him in a couple hours for the CAT scan."

"If you're sure. If you're in pain, I think we should get him," Sean said.

I don't think Noah can solve this kind of pain, she thought to herself. "No, I'm OK."

"I'm worried about you," he said.

I'm worried about me, too, I think I'm falling for a married man, Tiffany thought to herself.

"When's Robert supposed to get here?"

The statement hurt Sean more than he would admit. "Half hour, I think, do you want me to call him and see if he can get here sooner?"

I don't know, I don't know, Tiffany thought to herself. How do I stop this? Tiffany started to cry.

"No, baby, don't," Sean said and he quickly closed the distance between them. He instinctively pulled her to him, and she instinctively went. "It's all right, you're all right."

"What are you talking about, Sean? Do I look all right to you? I don't look all right to me? In fact, I can't even see me. I'm probably a freakin' mess."

"You look beautiful," Sean said.

"Don't say that," Tiffany said, and he pulled back, finally awake enough to be aware that he was blowing his cover.

At that moment, Robert walked in the room. "Hey, you two. How're my favorite two hospital-bound …" He stopped when he saw both of them frozen in their tracks. "Something going on?"

Tiffany put her hand to her head, she really didn't want to say what she was about to, but her head was pulsating. "Can you get Noah?"

"Sure, luv," Robert said, and he was out the door quicker than he had come in.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel … bad," Sean said. "I was sleeping, you know how I am when I first wake up, like a little groggy and…

"I know," she said. "It's not your fault. It was my fault. I got too cocky, I tried to get out of bed and just lost my footing. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," Sean said.

Robert and Noah entered the room. "What happened?" Noah said.

"I … I fell off the bed. My head hurts a little now," Tiffany admitted.

"I'll move up the CAT scan," Noah said, rushing out of the room.

Robert crossed over to Tiffany, helping her lean back in her bed. "It's OK, everything's OK, you just tried to do a little too much at once."

"Yeah, I think that was it. I'm sorry," she said again to Sean.

"No," he simply said in response.

Noah came back in with a nurse and a wheelchair. Robert helped Tiffany into the chair, the nurse started wheeling her out, with Noah following.

"Sorry," she said again in Sean's direction.

"No," he said again.

The door closed behind them.

"What the hell happened?" Robert asked.

"I'm not really sure," Sean said.

"What do you think happened?"

"I woke up, she was touching my cheek like she used to. I thought … I thought it was her, you know, for a split-second, my wife who loved me was back…"

"Oh God," Robert said.

"I don't know, something I said or I did … I really don't know … scared her and she lost her balance, fell off the bed," Sean said. "Robert, she fell into my arms. It was all I could do not to just hang on to her with every ounce of strength I have. This is killing me. I want my wife back. She's here, only she's not there."

"I'm sorry Sean, I thought this would help you."

"It did … it is. I can't be away from her. But this isn't working either now. She might be afraid of me. I don't know if she's going to come home with us, that's even if she's allowed to now after this. It'll break Maren's heart. Her birthday's tomorrow, this is all she wants."

"A real bloody mess this is," Robert said.

"It certainly is."

"Why don't you go home, do that quick change/shower thing and come back, we'll see where things stand?"

"Yeah, OK," Sean said, shaking his head as he walked out.

An hour or so later, Noah wheeled Tiffany back into her room and helped her back into the bed.

"How you feeling, Tiff?"

"Better, thanks, Robert," she said.

"So what's the good news, I hope, Doc?"

"The scan's about the same. I would have hoped for better, but there's not incredibly a lot we can do for her at this point. She can leave on an outpatient basis, if she has 24-hour care and keeps taking the anti-inflammatory drugs."

"That's great, Tiff. So we'll pack you up and you can stay with me and Sean for awhile."

"Yeah," Tiff said with the slightest of hesitation.

Sean knocked and entered. "I'm back … a changed man."

"Lord help us all," Robert quipped.

"Can we finally spring Ms. Hill from this place?"

"That we can," Robert smiled.

"Great," Sean said. "I'll go get the papers in order and we can roll."

"Great," Tiffany said.

"Congratulations," Noah said, and he kissed the top of her head. He sat on the edge of the bed and faced her. "Look Tiff, I have to go out of town for a consultation, but I will leave my beeper number with Robert and Sean, and I can be back here in a couple of hours if you need me."

Tiffany shook her head in understanding. "You know to come to the hospital if anything changes, if anything worsens. Do not wait, understand?" Again, she nodded.

"OK," Noah said. "I'm sure you're going to be fine. I'll definitely be back in a couple days and I think either you'll be a lot better or we'll at least be able to schedule the surgery."

"OK, bye Noah," she said softly and watched the shadowy figure walk out the door.


	18. Chapter 18

"We're here," Sean said brightly and Tiffany woke up. The drive to his place in the sedan had lulled her to sleep several times over the course of the trip from the hospital. Robert jumped out from the back seat, opening the passenger door, unbuckling Tiffany's seat harness and helping her out of the car.

"They're here!" Maren said excitedly in the house. "OK, calm down, Maren. You know what Dad said. Take a pill and calm down because she's gotta remain calm. … OK, just time for a little dance before they come inside." She whirled around the room whispering "Mommy's home! Mommy's home!" stopping just as she heard the key in the door.

Sean entered first, looked over at his excited daughter and shot her a friendly look of warning. "Welcome, Ms. Hill to our humble abode," he said. "Without further ado, I'd like to present my daughter, Maren."

Tiffany squinted to try and see the short shapeless creature in front of her, but her eyes betrayed her once again. "Hello," she simply said to the form.

"Hi, Ms. Hill," Maren said brightly. "I'm a big fan!"

Sean rolled his eyes and unsuccessfully tried to stifle a chuckle, Robert was less successful and actually let loose a hearty guffaw.

"What is funny about that?" Tiffany inquired in mock outrage.

"I'll tell you later, h…" Sean said, stopping short of letting loose another endearment. He was finding it more difficult lately to do that with her. "Hello, house," he said, trying to cover and again Robert was unimpressed with his attempt. "It's been so long since I've been around, I almost forgot what it looked like."

Sean's verbal faux pas were getting the best of Robert. "He's really not so sharp with the tongue, much better on the shooting range."

"He would almost have to be," Tiffany joked and Sean took his daily moment of admiring his wife's spunk in the face of her adversity.

"This actually doesn't look much like my house, because it's actually cleaned up and everything is where it is supposed to be," Sean said, purposefully making a face at Maren.

"Guess you didn't realize that my mess is a conscious choice and not some kind of ailment that has befallen me, Daaaaad," Maren said playfully. Tiffany smiled and bit her lip.

"OK, enough with the pleasantries …" Sean said.

"At your expense…" Robert offered.

"Of course, always at my expense…" Sean continued. "Tiffany, what can we do for you?"

Tiffany opened her mouth, then thought a second. "Actually, I am feeling a little bit tired, would it be all right if I went to lie down for a while?"

"Oh sure, of course, allow me," Sean said, guiding her by the elbow to the bedroom on that floor.

"I guess I'll see you guys later," Tiffany said as she was led off. "Why do I keep using that phrase when it's absolutely untrue?"

Robert took a deep breath and planted himself on the couch, while Maren laid on the side and rolled in beside him.

"That was deeply weird," Maren said.

"I couldn't have put it better myself, kid," Robert said.

"Please don't call me kid, Uncle Robert, I'm 15 tomorrow."

"Well, in that case, I'm gonna call you 'toddler' instead, Babyface Donely," Robert teased.

Maren rolled her eyes as Sean returned to the living room.

"Well at least she's home," Sean said.

"Amen to that," Maren said, jumping off the couch to embrace him. "I'm just glad to finally get to see her. Do you realize I haven't seen her since the helicopter took off from that roof?"

"Oh baby, I'm sorry," her father said. "She's struggling a little right now and we have to get her to the point where she's better or where she has the operation. After that, I really do truly believe everything will be all right. But she's in such a grey area right now, even the doctors aren't sure."

"I'm going to go check in with Mattison, see if anything's new with Coulson & the Gang," Robert said.

"Be sure to deck Stanton for me if you see him," Sean kidded.

"Deck him twice for me," Maren added.

"That's my girl," Sean said, hugging her close.

"Later," Robert said and disappeared out the door.

"It's so weird, Dad," Maren said.

"What is, sweetie?"

"She looked at me, and she kind of looked right through me," Maren said.

"You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think if she could actually see us, it'd all come back in a flash. There's no medical basis for that, but I just believe deep down inside that if she took one look at her beautiful daughter, there would be no way she wouldn't recognize her."

"Thanks, Dad. Know what?"

"I think the same. I know I always kidded you guys about kissing so much, but I know if she took one look at you, she'd be in love all over again."

Sean smiled. "Thanks, baby. Now go wash up and you can help me make dinner."

"Aww man, all that flattery and I still have to help make dinner, sheesh," Maren said as Sean swatted her affectionately.

Dinner proceeded uneventfully with Sean, Maren and Robert playfully chiding each other between bites. Tiffany blushed when Maren offered to kiss her tonight and rolled her eyes when Robert did.

"May I walk you to your door, Ms. Hill," Sean offered.

"Of course, Mr. Donely, I'd be delighted," Tiffany said in response. Four strides later, they were at her door. Sean opened it, flipped the light and led Tiffany in. He pointed her to the bathroom just off of the door, and gently guided her hands to the toothbrush, soap, dental floss and even the toilet before bowing out. "There's a robe and a nightgown on the back of the door," he said from the other side. "Thank you," she said quietly and politely.

Sean paced and wrung hands for the next few minutes until she emerged, then he gently led her to the bed and helped her climb in. "Sean," she said, keeping hold of his arm. "I'd like to talk to you for a few minutes, if you don't mind."

"Of course." He pulled a chair from the corner up to the bed and sat down. "Did you take the anti-inflammatory?"

"Yes, I took the medication. Thanks for asking." She bit her lip and tried to figure out to say what she had to in a way that made sense. If she was putting the pieces of the puzzle together properly.

"Sean …" she started. "A couple of things have been kind of bothering me and I was wondering if you would help me sort them out."

"OK, like what?" he asked, unsure of where this was leading.

"Well, the first thing is about your wife … Maren's mother. You talk about her pretty often, and you know, where is she? I'm sleeping in her house, right? Where is she?"

Sean fell silent. "OK, I'll move on, since you don't seem to be willing to talk about her. The second thing is about you and Noah. Now I'll admit I've been around quite a bit. So I'm pretty familiar with what a man sounds like when he's in love. And Noah, who I thought was in love with me, does not sound or act like a man who's in love … and you do."

Sean opened his mouth, and nothing came out. "It's hard to reconcile all of this, particularly since I don't really have any memory of you that hasn't occurred over the past week or so. But what I do have is a feeling, something I can't even really describe, except sometimes when you say something I get a flutter in my gut … or in my heart. And you've called me 'honey' or 'sweetheart' or 'baby' quite a few times by accident."

"If I put that all together, the only conclusion I can come to is that the trauma that you've all been trying so hard to protect me from these past few days is memory loss a lot more serious than short-term … that it's me that you love and that I am your wife."

"You're so damn smart. … so damn smart and beautiful and none of this should have ever happened to you," Sean said, falling to his knees in front of Tiffany.

"It's true then," she said. "When you talk about the woman you love, you're talking about me?"

"It's absolutely true," Sean finally admitted. "I am so in love with you. Of course that's impossible for me to hide, because it's all I can think of when I even look at you. It's been killing me to pretend I haven't."

"So why do it?" she said.

"Noah said the slightest agitation to your brain while you're recovering could lead to permanent damage," Sean said. "In fact, I want you lie back right now and get some rest, sweetheart."

"I'm fine," she said, but leaned back against the pillows anyway and pulled him on to the bed and into an embrace. "How can hearing that you love me that much possibly hurt me in any way? And I knew it. I've known it for days. I can't remember one thing from what went before, but what I know for an absolutely certainty is that I'm in love with you, Sean Donely."

Sean's eyes brimmed with tears of relief. He pulled back long enough to caress her cheek as he had that very morning, then moved in to kiss her like he had a million times before, by Maren's count anyway.


	19. Chapter 19

Maren sprang out of bed practically before she had opened her eyes. Her 15th birthday! Mom was home and she wasn't back to her old self yet, but she knew she was getting better because her Dad looked so much more relaxed than he had over the past week.

She put her striped sleep socks on her feet and bounded down the stairs. The living room was quiet. She walked over to the guest bedroom and peeked in the door. Her parents were sleeping side by side, her father's arm draped around her mother's waist. She smiled broadly.

The doorbell sounded. She quietly closed the bedroom door and ran to the front of the house. There was a flower delivery man, being questioned thoroughly by Lt. Mitchell.

"I just have flowers here for Maren Donely," he said shakily.

"Can I see your company ID?" Lt. Mitchell said.

Maren rolled her eyes. The delivery man gave Maren the flowers to hold while he nervously searched his pants and windbreaker pockets until he found it. Lt. Mitchell studied it, wrote down his information and gave it back to him. "You can go," she said.

"Thanks," the delivery man said, looking over at the teenager in her nightshirt and realizing there wasn't going to be a tip to be had for his troubles.

"Caryn, really," Maren wailed. "It's my birthday."

"Better safe than sorry, Maren," Lt. Mitchell said. "Happy birthday."

"Yeah, thanks," Maren said as the officer walked away. She closed the door behind her and deeply inhaled the fragrant bouquet in her arms. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the small white card tucked into the middle of the colorful arrangement. She walked over to the couch, sat down cross-legged and picked it out. "To the woman in my life," the card read.

"Finally! I'm finally going to be treated as a grownup around here," the birthday girl said. She jumped off and went off to find a vase to put her treasure in.

In the bedroom, Tiffany stirred. The movement woke Sean up.

"Morning," he said raspily in that same voice that had pretty much served as the catalyst for all that went after it yesterday.

"Morning," Tiffany replied in kind.

"OK, if I kiss you good morning," Sean queried.

"Yes, I think that would be all right," Tiffany teased.

Sean smiled as he pulled her to him. She definitely knew how to get to him, even if she didn't quite know that she knew. He kissed her once, twice, maybe 10 times.

Tiffany felt intoxicated. She was shaking and pulled away, embarrassed.

"Something wrong?" Sean asked?

"No," Tiffany blushed. "Just a little embarrassed."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Sean said, drawing her near again.

"I just … I just want to know everything right now, you know?' Sean knew what she meant. His wife was always inquisitive, so this had to be bothering her even more than she was letting on.

"Maybe you can tell me something about us," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know Noah doesn't want me to know about anything stressful or something that could impede the progress I'm allegedly making, but maybe if I knew something it would ring a bell, help move things along, you know?"

Sean considered that for a moment. "OK, you're understandably reticent," she continued. "But I still don't see how knowing about some of the happier moments in my life could really do any harm."

"Honey, I don't think we should push it," Sean said gently.

"OK, we won't. Tell me something entirely stress-free and we'll see what happens. I'm going to the hospital in a few hours for the daily beating of the CAT scan drums so there's no real danger."

Sean pulled his head back. "How can I know the expression on your face when I can't even see it?" Tiffany teased.

"OK, OK … let me think of something."

"How about something … like our wedding?"

Sean mulled that for half a second. "Uh no."

"No?"

"We said stress-free."

"That sounds ominous."

"Uh uh. Not the wedding."

"OK, I'll get back to that later," Tiffany said, rubbing his arm thoughtfully. "How about something simple like how we met?"

"Uh, no."

"Good lord, don't we do anything the easy way?"

Sean was coming up empty.

"OK, how about the first time we were together?"

Sean flushed. "Did you just blush?" Tiffany said, picking up the vibe. "Isn't that against the WSB code?

"Well that … um happened … because of a stressful situation."

Tiffany shook her head, her long locks cascaded around her face. She reached out and touched his cheeks, they were warm with desire. "Bet Robert wouldn't believe this if I told him," she said. "OK … tell me about that night … just leave out what happened to lead up to it."

Sean took a deep breath. "Well, you and I are became very good friends before …"

"We did?" Tiffany said.

"Yes. When we met, there was like a connection there. I know I felt it. And we spent a lot of time together."

"That sounds nice. Unlike me, but nice."

"It was different for me too."

"So…"

"So I had taken you to my place … to relax."

"Ah ha," she said.

"And I was massaging your neck and shoulders."

"Smooth," Tiffany teased.

"I guess so. But I wasn't really going to … try anything."

"But?"

"But, you looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes. They just cut right through me." Now Tiffany blushed. "You could be smooth when you wanted to too."

"And I looked at you and…"

"And you said you had to go."

"I did?"

"Yes. And I didn't really want to take advantage of you in a fragile moment. So I really was prepared to take you wherever you wanted to go."

"But?"

"But … you were so beautiful and I had wanted you for so long. I don't know if you kissed me or I kissed you, maybe we just leaned in at the same time."

That flicker of recognition that had happened so often over the past week when she was with Sean washed over her again. She couldn't picture the moment, but she recognized it as true in her heart. "Was that too much?" he asked with concern.

"No. Go on."

"Well, it was wonderful. I don't think I ever connected with anyone the way I did with you. I couldn't let you go that night, I loved just holding you in my arms."

"Good thing you married me, then," Tiffany said.

"Yes, a very good thing."

"So were things different when we were back out in the real world the next day?"

"Actually, we didn't go out the next day."

Tiffany blushed herself. "We didn't?"

"The next two days, in fact," Sean said, sounding a little satisfied with himself.

"Oh wow," Tiffany said, mulling that over. Sean studied her face. She burst out laughing.

"Two days?" Now Sean was laughing too. He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.


	20. Chapter 20

Maren heard her parents' laughter echoing from the guest bedroom. She wanted to be a part of it. Of course, she remembered the secret knock she used to use to make sure she wasn't interrupting a private moment between them, of which there were many. She stepped up to the door and rapped on the door one time, then two times together, than three times.

"Enter, fair Ariel," Tiffany said without thinking.

Maren swung open the door and all three of them reacted to Tiffany's familiar refrain.

"Mom?" Maren said, crossing quickly to the bed and sitting on the side her mother was on.

"I … I don't know where that came from," Tiffany said with surprise.

"Do you remember?" Sean asked.

"I don't know, I just said it," Tiffany responded. "Like a flash or something, but then it was gone."

"That's great, Mom," Maren said, moving in to hug her mother. "You always called me that because I used to love The Little Mermaid."

"Do you remember anything else?" Sean asked.

Tiffany tried to search her mind, regrasp that feeling she just had, but her head was starting to hurt. She put her hand to her head to steady herself. "No. It's gone."

Sean tried to cover his disappointment, and he leaned her back against a pillow. "It's OK. That was wonderful. I think it's really a good sign."

"Me too," Maren said brightly.

"I just wish … that I could remember more," Tiffany said.

"It's OK," Sean said. "I think you just made my day. And you definitely made your daughter's birthday."

"Ohmigoodness, Maren, happy birthday," Tiffany said.

"Thanks Mom," Maren said. "Actually it should be your day, you did all the work. I just kinda popped out, right?"

Sean smiled. "Well, it wasn't quite that easy."

"Of course not," Tiffany said, recalling their earlier conversation.

"Forgive me for not knowing this, sweetheart, but you're how old?'

"I'm 15, Mom."

"Wow," Tiffany said, overwhelmed.

"Come here, pumpkin," Sean said, determined not to let the moment get maudlin. Maren did as requested and Sean gave his daughter a big bear hug and a kiss on each cheek and on the top of her head. "Happy birthday, hon."

"Thanks Dad."

"What do you want for your birthday?" he asked. "You know, I, uhhh… haven't had much time to shop lately."

"That's my fault," Tiffany said.

"It's totally fine," Maren said. "I got everything I wanted already. Mom's back home."

"I wish I could see you," Tiffany said. "Who do you look like?"

"Well, I have to admit, I've been told I look a lot like you, only with brown hair instead of blonde," Maren said.

"Yeah, used to drive her up the wall," Sean said.

"Not anymore," Maren said plaintively. "I like it now."

"Apparently I have a daughter as sweet as my husband," Tiffany said.

"If I'm going to be honest, I have to say that I really haven't been all that great a daughter for a while," Maren said.

"We don't have to go into that right now," Sean said with concern.

"But I think I've grown up a lot," Maren continued anyway, trying to get to her point. "Not just because I'm a year older. But because of what we went through."

"Maren…" Sean said softly but firmly.

"I just want to say … I just want to tell you I love you, Mom," Maren said.

"And I'll tell you what I told your father last night, I know I love you too," Tiffany said.

Maren jumped over her father and hugged her mother tightly. "I'm so glad you remember that much."

The front doorbell rang.

"Are we expecting someone?" Tiffany asked.

"Hmmm, maybe," Sean said with a twinkle.

"Oh boy," Maren said, jumping out of bed and heading for the door.

"Uh, I think I'll go with you … just to make sure," Sean said. "I'll be back for you, my love," he said to Tiffany, brushing his lips against her cheek.

Sean followed his excited daughter to the door. Maren swung it open wildly.

"It's the UPS guy," she said disappointedly.

"Package for Maren Donely," the UPS man said. Sean looked past him at Lt. Mitchell, who was standing halfway down the sidewalk. She nodded at Sean, he nodded back appreciatively.

"A package for me?" Maren asked. She grabbed it out of his hands and started to walk away.

"Honey," Sean said. "It's your package, you have to sign for it."

"Oh!" Maren said, returning to the door. "Sorry, it's my first package."

That made the UPS man grin. "You're Maren Donely?"

"Yes, I am."

"Sign right here," he said, pointing to the spot on his electronic pad and giving her the digital pen. Maren happily scribbled away. "Thank you. Enjoy."

"Thank YOU," Maren said and raced back to the couch. She started tearing at the box as Sean closed the door.

Tiffany made her way to the living room, bumping into a couple of things as she did.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Sean said, and Maren looked up long enough to see her mother.

"Coming to join the party," Tiffany said brightly as Sean stepped to her side to help lead her to the couch.

"So damn self-sufficient," Sean said.

"A little blindness and a little headache ain't gonna keep me down," Tiffany said.

"Apparently not."

"So what did you get?" Tiffany asked of her daughter, looking to change the subject.

"Oh Daddy! It's the personal computer I wanted. DVD player, CD player, stereo speakers, the works! I thought you said you couldn't go shopping!"

"I couldn't, that's why I ordered it online," Sean said slyly.

"Ummm, I don't know if I'm seeing things or not, but is that orange?" Tiffany said as Maren pulled it from the box, tearing at the various plastic strips that protected the brand new product.

"Yep, it's orange, all right," Maren said. "My favorite color!"

"Orange is your favorite color?" Tiffany asked. "You have to get that from your father."

"Actually you look great in orange, Mom," Maren said.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Tiffany replied genuinely but with a bit of reticence.

"She's right. She bought you a beautiful orange robe for Mother's Day, and I have to admit I can't take my eyes off of you when you wear it," Sean said.

The doorbell sounded again.

"Now who's that?" Maren yelled.

"Come on, let me in, it's not like Maren can have a real birthday party without her godfather," Robert yelled back.

Maren carefully placed the computer on the couch and jumped over the other side to get the door. She swung it wide open to find Robert and a couple of men carrying huge boxes.

"What's all this?" she asked.

"Well, if you have a brand new computer, you certainly need somewhere to set it up. That's where I come in," Robert said. "But first, where's my birthday hug? After all, I did all the work."

"I believe you handed out the cigars, Robert," Sean said.

"It wasn't easy finding that kind of quality in this city," Robert said, playing his role to the hilt. "Now let these guys in, I'm paying them by the hour."

Maren stepped aside so Robert and the men can enter. "Lead the way, birthday girl," he said.

Maren pointed up the stairs and stepped back so the men could pass her. "Thanks so much, Uncle Robert. I can't believe this. This is my best birthday ever." She bounded up the stairs.

"Good work, Uncle Robert," Sean added.

"You expected anything else," Robert said and disappeared up the stairs after Maren and the workers.


	21. Chapter 21

Robert led the workers back down the stairs about an hour later. He pulled a couple of bills out of his wallet, handed it to one of them and patted them on the back as they exited.

"You may never see that girl again," Robert said as he slumped onto the couch. "Oh, sorry, Tiff."

"For what?" Tiffany asked.

"I didn't mean it that way."

"Don't be silly, even I still use that expression all the time."

"Can I get you some coffee?" Sean asked. "We also have tea."

Tiffany grimaced. "Yeah, it's delightful. Noah won't let me drink coffee."

"I'll take the coffee, thanks," Robert said, getting up and serving himself.

"We probably should be getting ready to go to the hospital, right?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah," Sean said. "It's about that time." He went to the foot of the stairs. "Maren, honey!" Silence followed. "Maren!"

She finally appeared at the head of the stairs. "Maren, honey, you want to help your mother get ready?" he asked.

Maren looked briefly in the direction of her room and her new toy, but then came down the stairs. "Sure I do."

Tiffany picked herself up and Maren took her hand and led her back to the guest bedroom. "Nothing orange, OK, honey?"

"Can I put your makeup on, Mom? I know how to do it, I've watched you a billion times."

"Uh, sure, honey," Tiffany said with slight concern in her voice as they moved into the room.

Sean and Robert stifled a laugh. "Oh well, at least she won't be able to see the results," Robert said.

"That is cold, old buddy."

"Like you weren't thinking it too."

"OK, I was. But at least I didn't say it."

About 90 minutes later, Sean pulled into a vacant spot in the hospital parking lot. He rushed to the other side to help his wife, but Tiffany had already gotten out and was straightening her blazer.

"Tell me the truth, Sean."

"About what, honey?"

"How did she do?" Tiffany said, inquiring about her daughter's makeup job.

"Actually she did a tremendous job. You look gorgeous."

"Thank you," she said, taking her husband's arm as they walked to the door.

"In the interests of full disclosure, I do have to tell you she used a little orange blush and sort of burnt sienna eye shadow, but it looks very natural."

"Hmmm," Tiffany said, unsure.

"You look like you've been lying on the beach at Cannes, very warm and kind of summery," Sean said.

"That doesn't sound bad."

"It isn't."

"Would you tell me if it was?"

"I'm not really sure," Sean replied quickly as they walked through the hallway. "How about we take a walk by the waterfront after this?"

"That sounds nice, but shouldn't we get back to Maren? It his her birthday"

"I think she'll be tooling around on her computer for hours. Probably won't even notice we're gone. … We used to love to walk down there when we got the chance."

"Used to? Like before Maren was born?"

"No, used to like last week," Sean said.

"This must be incredibly difficult for you, Sean. You had this whole life and now it's gone."

"I don't believe it's gone for good."

"But it's difficult."

"It's … I don't really know what to call it. It's not difficult, because we're together. Difficult was when you didn't know me from Adam."

"I'm sorry," Tiffany said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, honey."

"I am anyway."

They arrived at the nurses station in front of the CAT scan room. "Tiffany Donely," Sean said to the nurse. "She has an appointment for 11 for a CAT scan."

"We're running a little behind. It'll be a few minutes," the nurse said. "Please have a seat."

"Of course," Sean said, leading Tiffany to a nearby couch and sitting besides her. "You still have that headache?"

"A little, but not really," Tiffany said. "I think it's more for me sort of straining to see things and not really anything else."

Sean took her hands in his and kissed them.

A couple of hours later, they were strolling on the waterfront.

"Why don't you tell me something else about us?" she asked.

"I don't know, maybe we should save that for when we get home."

"I think it's fine. I feel fine. Considering what day it is, why don't you tell me about when Maren was born? Unless that's too stressful," she said disarmingly.

"Actually that went about as well as it could," he said, leading her to a park bench.

"Meaning?"

"By most standards, Maren's birth would be considered an easy delivery."

"Easy?" Tiffany said, not quite believing it.

"Well, you were actually already at the hospital. You had just done a report on the condition of a gunshot victim."

"Ugh," Tiffany said.

"And I was in the hospital therapy room, going through the same exercises for like the billionth time. Your broadcast was on one of the televisions in the room. … You were just putting the tag on it and..."

"The tag?"

"Oh, the tag is when you say who you are and the station and send it back to the studio."

"Oh," Tiffany said, not recalling that.

"And I'll never forget this, you had just said 'This is Tiffany Hill for WBOS' and you stopped in your tracks and looked down. And you said it again 'This is Tiffany Hill for WBOS at Boston Memorial … and my water just broke'," Sean stopped and smiled at the memory.

Tiffany laughed out loud. "What did you do?"

"I jumped up and ran out of the room." Tiffany laughed again. "I couldn't find you at first, I couldn't figure out which door you were standing outside of. Then finally I came up with the bright idea of just going to the Emergency Room and there you were. You were only in labor for about seven hours…"

"Seven hours! That's easy?"

"Well, they say with the first baby …" Sean took a long pause, looking away, and trying not to think about the baby they had lost. "… they say it can last a whole day before the baby pops out."

"Pops out?"

"You know what I mean. But you were just glowing the whole time. I'll never forget it. You were so beautiful, just happy and excited. The only stress we had was coming up with a name. We spent the whole seven hours discussing every girl's name in the known universe probably."

"We knew she was going to be a girl?"

"Yes, the doctor had told us a couple of months before. And we had pored through all these baby names books and we just could not settle on something."

"Settle on a name for someone as precious as Maren."

"That's exactly what you said at the time."

"So right when she was born, there was a national news broadcast on and the reporter said 'Live from Marin County, I'm…' whoever-the-hell-he was." Tiffany laughed again. "And you said, that's it, Maren! And we couldn't figure out why we couldn't remember that from the baby names book. Until we got home from the hospital with her the next day…"

"And?"

"And we looked it up."

"And?"

"And 'Maren' is English for 'sea of bitterness'."

"Oh heavens," Tiffany said. "Well, it just takes someone as precious as Maren to change that meaning."

"Baby, again, that's exactly what you said at the time."

They smiled, he pulled her closer to him on the bench and they listened to the sounds of the harbor.


	22. Chapter 22

Later that night, Sean secret-knocked on his daughter's door.

"Enter, Triton," Maren said, echoing the day's earlier reference to "The Little Mermaid."

"Much obliged, daughter," Sean said. "I fear I'll never see your beautiful mermaid tail again as long as you stay out of the water and on this computer."

"It's the first day, Dad," she said. "At least give me a couple before you start complaining about the present you gave me yourself."

"OK, OK," he said, kissing her on the top of the head. "I actually didn't come in here to talk about that."

Maren turned to give him her full attention, expecting something major. "OK, what's up?"

"Dr. Drake called. Based on your mother's tests results and barring any radical change, he's going to operate on your mother in a couple of days."

"And she'll be all right? I mean, she'll be mom again."

"Sweetheart, there aren't any guarantees. But he is going to remove some of the material pressing on her optic nerve. And the hope is that once they get rid of some of that scar tissue, that she will be able to see clearly again."

"That's great, dad. Is Mom excited?"

"She is."

"And you?"

"I am too."

"But?"

"No buts, just that there aren't any guarantees."

Maren bit her lip. "I understand."

"Dr. Drake's the best in his field, though. We're very confident about it."

"Just like you said, no guarantees."

"Right."

Maren turned back to the computer. "I've been researching this Dr. Drake."

Sean laughed. "Shouldn't you be downloading music onto your mp3 player or something like that?"

"Just wanted to know all I could, I guess," she said.

Sean walked over and looked at the profile of Noah that was up on Maren's screen. His eye caught a little card taped to the corner of her computer. "What's this?"

"Oh, I forgot to thank you for the flowers, Dad," she said. "This is the card. I really liked it."

A note of caution crossed Sean's face. "Honey, I didn't send you flowers."

"But this card," Maren said, peeling it away from the computer. "I thought you were saying that I was all grown up now."

Sean took it gently from his daughter's hand. "'To the woman in my life'," he read. "And these came today?"

"Mmmm mmm, with these," Maren said, gesturing to the colorful bouquet on a vase standing alone on an end table next to the desk.

Sean rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes, sweetheart," he said, leaving the room. Maren turned back and returned to her search on the computer.

Sean trudged down the stairs. His concern was giving way to fear.

"Robert?"

"Yeah mate?"

"You didn't send my daughter flowers today, did you?"

"Wasn't a custom-built office enough?"

"No, I mean Maren got flowers today and I don't know who they were from. Look at this card."

Robert took the card as Sean went outside.

"What's it say, Robert," Tiffany asked.

"It says 'To the woman in my life'," Robert read.

"Well if Sean didn't send it, who did?"

Outside, Sean leaned over Lt. Matthews' vehicle. "Did Mitchell say anything about a flower delivery today?"

Matthews flipped through the day's report. "Here it is, flower delivery this morning. Here's the information on the guy who delivered them."

"Get her on the phone for me, will you?" he asked.

"Sure thing, chief." Matthews called in to the station, passing along Sean's message and asking for immediate response.

Sean went back into the house and slumped onto the couch next to Tiffany.

"What is it, Sean?"

"I'm not sure, hon. It could be nothing. It could be just some kid in her class who has a crush."

"We have to make sure," Tiffany said.

"I was thinking the same thing," Sean replied. The phone rang and he stretched over the table to pick it up.

"Donely," he said. "Yeah, Caryn. Tell me about this flower delivery this morning … No, that's fine, you did it by the book. No, I'll get in touch with the company. Thanks for getting back to me."

Sean picked up the phone and dialed information. "Yeah, Calico Florists in Boston. Connect me directly, please." He drummed his fingers on the couch as he waited. "Yes, this is police chief Sean Donely. I'm looking for some information on a delivery made to my home this morning. … So the person didn't actually come into your shop? … And you're sure it was a man? OK, thank you. I'll call you back if I need anything else."

Sean hung up, now increasingly agitated. "It was definitely a man, not a boy."

"I think we should pack you guys up and get out of here," Robert said.

"Way ahead of you, old buddy," Sean said. "Honey, I think we should go to Port Charles. Noah can do the surgery there as easily as here."

"If you think it's necessary," Tiffany said.

"I do," Sean said. "Maren! …. Maren!!" Maren appeared at the head of the stairs. "Honey, we're going to take a little trip to Port Charles. Pack only the bare essentials, OK?"

"What about my computer/"

"You can bring that, just not all the bells and whistles, OK? Let's go, I want to be out of here within the hour."

Maren was used to this drill. "OK, I'll be ready."

Sean picked up his cell phone and dialed his assistant. "Ellie? Yeah, it's me. … No, nothing's particularly wrong, I just need to take my family out of town. Yes, Tiffany's going to have her surgery back in Port Charles. Yeah, that's a great idea, make reservations for myself, my wife, Maren and Robert Scorpio and see if any of the penthouses in Port Charles are available. You can text me the details. … I need you to keep this on the QT, nobody knows my whereabouts except for the usual cast of characters. … I'll set up a makeshift office there, we can handle most everything over computer and video conference. … I'll call you when we're set up. … Thanks, good night."

"Tiffany, let me help you get your stuff together," Sean said, helping his wife up off the couch and leading her to the guest bedroom. "Robert, if you wouldn't mind throwing some stuff for me into a couple of suitcases…."

"I'm on it," Robert said, bounding up the stairs two at a time.


	23. Chapter 23

Tiffany's hands nervously flew up to her head. Less than an hour ago, her golden locks had been first cut off and then shaved, and in their place, a thin skullcap covered her head.

"Never did this for a role before," she said under her breath.

Sean and Maren entered the room carrying matching bouquets of orchids. "Hi Mom," Maren said as brightly as she could manage.

"Hi, beautiful," Tiffany said.

Maren laughed. "Like you can tell," she teased.

"You told me yourself that you favor me, darling, so I just assumed the rest," Tiffany responded. It alleviated the weight that was on her heart to banter with her daughter.

Sean placed his flowers on the tray table and kissed the top of his wife's head. "I can attest to how beautiful you both are," he said, caressing Tiffany's cheek. "You ready?"

"Yes, I think we're all ready for this to go one way or the other already," Tiffany said.

"We'll be here when you get out," Maren said.

"Thanks, baby," Tiffany said, reaching out her hands so Maren and Sean could each take one of them. "Don't worry. Noah knows what he's doing."

Noah entered. "Did I hear my cue? … I just got the results of your latest CAT scan and everything looks pretty good. I've done this operation successfully in less-than-ideal conditions, so I'm confident about it." He squeezed Tiffany's arm. "I'll see you in there."

"That makes one of us," Tiffany deadpanned as he exited.

Tiffany rubbed both hands in her hands. Maren's was so soft, even her fingernails felt like tissue. Sean's was weathered and trembling slightly. The IV she was connected too sent a wave of drowsiness through her body and the hands slipped out of her grasp.

"I love you both," she said groggily.

"I love you, Mom," Maren said, choking up a little. She looked over at her father, he was breathing shallowly. "I'm going to go keep Uncle Robert company." She leaned over and kissed Tiffany's cheek, made eye contact with her father and walked out.

"I will see you very very soon, my love," Sean said.

"We've done this too many times," Tiffany said unconsciously.

"I know," Sean said, "And every time … somehow I love you more than the time before." He leaned over and kissed her on the lips, hers gently responding. He slowly backed away from her as the orderlies came in, transferring her carefully from the bed to the gurney and wheeling her out. "I love you."

"Godspeed, Tiff," Robert, who was holding Maren's hand, said as she was wheeled by. Tiffany smiled as her eyes fluttered shut. Maren looked back in the direction of her mother's room and saw her father slowly walk out. She let go of Robert's hand and moved into her father's arms.

A couple hours later, a weary Noah walked over to Sean, Maren and Robert, in the same place they had been when Tiffany went off to surgery. Sean immediately sprung to his feet and looked at Noah questioningly.

"Everything went smoothly," Noah said. "No problems. I think we cleared all the scar tissue out of there. She came through it fine."

"So now we wait?" Sean said and Noah nodded. "How long until we know one way or the other?"

"With the laser we were able to use, there should be very minimal swelling caused by the surgery," Noah said. "Of course there will be some, but it should diminish rapidly and I'd say in the next 24 hours, we'll know if that was enough to restore her eyesight."

"She was already awake in recovery, so they should be bringing her back here in the next few minutes. I know you want to be with her, but please don't stay too long. She needs rest."

Sean nodded and sat back down next to Maren. He forced a smile and took a deep breath. "You want to go get something to eat, sweetheart?"

"No thanks, darling," Robert responded.

Sean chuckled and gestured to Maren. "I meant you."

"I know," she said. "Can we wait until after Mom's back in her room?"

"Of course," Sean said.

The orderlies wheeled Tiffany by and into her room. "Go ahead, Dad," Maren said. "I know you want to go in there."

"Not without you," he said, taking her by the hand and walking to the room.

They stood at the far side of the room as the orderlies put Tiffany back in the bed, adjusting her IV and pillows. She had gauze over both her eyes.

"Sean? Maren?" Tiffany said groggily.

"We're here, baby," Sean said and they moved closer when the orderlies left.

"Is it over? I feel like I never left."

"Yes, it's over, sweetheart." He kissed her head the same way he did before she went into surgery.

The next day, they were in the same positions, although Sean and Maren had obviously gone home to shower and change clothes, when Noah walked in the door.

"OK, here we go," he said, shutting off the lights in the room. "Today's CAT scan shows as minimal swelling as we could ask for."

"I really think these lingering headaches are caused by being in that thing every day," Tiffany said.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Noah said. Sean moved from his spot next to Tiffany so that Noah could step in and perch himself on the side of the bed. He slowly peeled the adhesive tape away from the gauze on her eyes. "Keep your eyes closed for now." He flexed his fingers as he reached for the piece over her left eye and then the one over the right.


	24. Chapter 24

Tiffany's eyes remained closed. Everyone else's remained focused on hers.

"OK, Tiff, here we go. Slowly open your eyes. Not wide, just a little bit." Her eyes felt like they had weights on them. "It's OK, that's normal." Tiffany steeled herself and tried again. They fluttered open, the limited light in the room hit them like a spotlight. A couple of tears squirted out. Noah wiped them away.

She took a deep breath, Sean and Maren didn't breathe. She blinked a couple of times, her eyes focused. She saw Noah, a little blurry, blinked again, then he came sharper into focus. "Who are you, Dick Clark?" she said. Noah shook his head, confused by the question. "If 20 years have really gone by, how come you haven't aged?"

Noah chuckled and looked down. Tiffany looked to her right. "Sean … Maren," she said softly. Her husband and daughter finally exhaled.

Noah took out his penlight. "This is going to hurt a little bit."

"Then don't do it," Tiffany said and Sean let out a relieved laugh.

"I have to," he said. Noah flicked on the penlight and slowly raised it from her chin to her eyes. "Look left … look right … up … down." Tiffany did as instructed. "Good, good. Both beautiful and functional, I'd say."

He got up and let Sean and Maren move into his place. "Mom?" Maren said cautiously.

"Ohmigod, you're so beautiful," Tiffany moaned. Her daughter moved into her arms. Noah stepped back. Tiffany raised her eyes to her husband. "Sean, you look so tired."

"How can you tell that in a darkened room?" Sean said hoarsely.

"More like an educated guess," Tiffany responded. She closed her eyes as a vision swept across her brain. Her breathing shallowed.

Noah moved back closer to her. "Tiff? What is it?"

"Uhhh, a flash… A memory, I think. Of Sean."

"That's good. The eyes are the most powerful of the senses. They're pretty much firing neurons to the synapses in all parts of your brain. That's probably going to happen a lot for a while. It's a very good sign."

"Hurts a little," she said, shutting her eyes. Sean squeezed her arm.

"I'm going to increase your medication, just a little bit." Noah moved over to her IV and moved the button up a notch. "Your head should hurt a little, that's very normal, but we don't want to overstimulate your senses."

Tiffany kept her eyes closed, searching to get that memory back. "You were crying," she said, not understanding what she was seeing. "I … I … hospital, we were in the hospital."

Sean looked at Noah, concerned. "Your brain might be trying to work this out, filling the gap in what you're seeing."

"No, no," Tiffany said, sure that that wasn't it.

"Don't try too hard, Tiff," Noah said.

"Listen to him, honey," Sean said.

"I'm not. It's there, It's right there, I just have to … grab it. … It's … it's … ohmigod," she said in stammers and starts, before starting to cry. "You're holding Maren."

Sean was the only one in the room who knew what she meant. He had cried when the doctor put Maren in his arms for the first time. "Oh baby," he said.

"When Maren was born," Tiffany finally said.

"Oh, Mommy," Maren wailed.

"That's great, Tiff. That's really good," Noah said. "Now I hate to break this up, but we can't get carried away here. You really need to rest."

"Mmmm mmm," Tiff said, and the medication was already taking her away.

Noah led Sean and Maren out of the room. Outside, father and daughter embraced. "Thank you so much, Noah," Sean said, holding Maren with one arm and extending his hand to shake with the other.

Robert, with Robin and Patrick in tow, crossed over to the group. "Well?"

"Well… well, she can see, ol' buddy," Sean said proudly. "And she just remembered the birth of her daughter."

"That's great!" Robin said joyously. The group exchanged hugs all around.

Later that night, after Sean had sent Maren home with Robert and Patrick, he quietly walked back into Tiffany's room. He sat down on the chair in the corner and watched his wife sleep until he drifted off himself.

A couple of hours later, Tiffany stirred in her bed. Her eyes opened as she recalled a conversation she had had with Sean a couple of weeks ago. "Two days," she said to herself.

It all came back to her. The break-in at her apartment, Sean taking her to his place, she put on his pajama top, his massage, that long look they gave each other. She had said she probably should leave, but she really didn't want to. She wanted him. And he seemed to want her rather badly as well. She was glad when their lips finally met, she thought she was going to jump out of her skin because that moment had lasted forever. The way he peeled off that pajama top, the way they made love. … And it did last two days. That tentative first time followed by increasingly fiery and passionate sessions. She hadn't been able to get enough of him and he didn't seem to be able to either.

"Sean," she said. He was slumped down in the chair, not snoring, but definitely breathing in measures. "Sean," she said again a little louder and he stirred and sprung out of her chair and to her side faster than she thought possible.

"What is it, sweetheart?" he said. She was really growing to like that raspy quality of his voice. Or had she always?

Tiffany pulled his arm so that he was leaning over on the bed. "I remember," she said.

"Something else? What was it?"

"Us. I wanted you so badly that night. I've always wanted you so badly."

"You got me."

She pulled him closer to her. The distance between them was reminiscent of that moment she had just remembered before about their first time.

"What is it about you?" she voiced before she could think about what she was saying.

"I'm not sure I understand the question," Sean said throatily.

"Are you gonna kiss me or are we just gonna stay like this until the nurses come in to check on me and kick you out?" Tiffany teased.

"Oh, I'm gonna kiss you all right." Sean expertly swooped in and caught her mouth with his lips. They gently but insistently fed off each other.

When they finally pulled away, Tiffany couldn't hide a smile. "You've done that before."

"Only like that with you, my love," Sean said and he moved back in for another.


	25. Chapter 25

The next day, Tiffany was settling back under the covers in her hospital room when Noah entered, perusing her latest test results.

"I know your memories are probably coming at you fast and furiously by now and that's going to cause some lingering headache, but you're still doing wonderfully," Noah said. "So wonderfully in fact that I think I can spring you today."

"Really?" Tiffany said. "That's great."

"You won't even have to be on an outpatient basis … barring any setbacks. And you do have to be aware of that, you're going to have to take it easy," Noah said. "And I know how difficult that is for you, but I mean it."

"I will, I will, I promise," she said.

"Starting to fill in a lot of the blanks?" he said.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"I take that to mean you remember what happened with us," Noah said, leaning on the edge of her bed.

"Yes, I do."

"I'm sorry about that."

Tiffany smiled faintly. "You don't have to be sorry about something that happened 25 years ago."

"Well, I think I do. I didn't realize that until I saw you again in that hospital room in Boston."

"It just wasn't meant to be. I don't have any hard feelings about it."

"That's probably because you have something that was meant to be," Noah said.

"You're probably right."

Sean entered at that moment, flowers in hand.

"Daily flower delivery," Noah said. All three of them laughed. "Only the truck is going to have to stop over at the penthouse after today."

Sean digested his words. "She can go home?"

"Yep, fit as a fiddle and ready to play it on outta here," Noah said. "Of course, I've already talked to her about her limitations. … And you're going to have to back me up on that, Sean. She's really got to take it easy for a few weeks at least."

"I'll make sure of it," he said.

"Good," Noah said. "I'll leave you two to your own devices then." He turned to leave.

"Noah?" Tiffany said quietly. "Thanks."

"You're very welcome," he said and left.

Sean rested his flowers on the tray table and sat on the edge of her bed. "Good morning, gorgeous," he said and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Morning," she said, pulling him in for a stronger kiss.

"Did I detect something a little more than doctor-patient appreciation there?' Sean said when they separated.

"Yes and no," Tiffany said with an air of light-hearted mystery. After a pause, she continued. "I'm glad to see you, in more ways than one. I've got a few questions for you."

"OK, shoot," Sean said. Memories started to flood Tiffany's mind. Of being at the hospital on more than one occasion, with Sean in the hospital bed and her sitting where he was. He noted the change with concern. "You all right?"

Tiffany leaned back in the pillow and let the memories pass. "Yeah. … Noah said it's going to be like this for awhile, different words or sights or sounds or smells just bringing things back to me. It's kind of tiring."

"I can come back," Sean said.

"No, it's all right." Her tone lightened. "But there are some things I'd like to know."

"Such as?"

"Such as ... we've been married a couple decades, right?" Tiffany picked up her left hand and waved it slightly. "Don't I have a wedding ring?"

Sean smiled and reached into the inside pocket of his coat, producing the little envelope he had carried around for weeks. "As a matter of fact, you do." He dumped the contents in his hand, picked the wedding ring out of it and handed it to her.

She smiled as she fingered the emeralds and diamonds and the gold band that held them. She handed it back to him. "If you wouldn't mind," she said, holding her hand out to him.

"I don't mind one bit," Sean said. "However, you do usually wear this inside of that." He picked up her engagement ring, one big emerald surrounded by a couple of smaller diamonds.

"That brings me to my second question," she said as he slid the engagement ring on followed by the wedding band then kissed her hand.

"Which is?"

"Just how many times did you propose to me? I don't know if I'm having jumbled memories or something, but I feel like it was more than once."

Sean chuckled. "It was more than once." He kissed the engagement ring. "It was actually three or four times."

"Three or four? Not sure which?"

"There was a bit of a difference of opinion on that subject."

"Mmmm mmmm," Tiffany said. "Do tell."

"When I first decided we should get married, I presented this ring to you," he said, rubbing his hand over her ring finger. "And maybe … just maybe, I was a little abrupt."

Tiffany flashed on the fight they had at the brownstone. She could feel her insides melt when he showed it to her as though it had just happened. But he hadn't actually asked her to be his wife. She had thrown him out of her room, actually intending to walk him to the front door of the brownstone to make sure he left. "I remember," she said softly. "You came back soon after."

"Yes."

"All tuxedoed out, you looked so dashing," she said.

"And you looked beautiful," he continued. "Do you remember what happened next?"

Tiffany waited for the memory to come to her. It did. "You took me back to the penthouse. Candlelight, violins, a perfect evening."

"I thought it was," Sean said. "Then I proposed … and you turned me down."

Tiffany tried to hide her smile. She failed.

"I didn't exactly turn you down."

"You didn't exactly accept either."

"It didn't stop you from trying," Tiffany said. "The yacht."

"That didn't work either."

"Oh, it worked."

"You didn't say yes to that either."

"I wanted to say yes. My insides were screaming at me to say yes." Tiffany searched for the next moment. All she could conjure up was an image of her in gypsy clothing, with Sean on bended knee. "I'm not sure what happened next."

"Well what happened next was you telling me in your own inimitable way, that you were scared. You dressed up like a fortune teller and came to me to 'help me' say what you needed to hear."

"Oh, good lord," Tiffany laughed. She didn't quite have the complete memory. "And that worked?"

"It got the intended result anyway," Sean laughed too.

"Which brings me to my other question."

"OK…," Sean said warily.

"Why exactly wouldn't you tell me about our wedding?" Sean stiffened up. Tiffany hid a smile.

"Well, I was supposed to keep you from any stress, and as you know a wedding day is one of the most stressful days any two people can have." He took a breath. "I mean, it was around Christmas, we couldn't find a church, we actually ended up having it at the Quartermaines. Very stressful."

"Hmmmm," Tiffany said. "That's all?"

Sean was silent, trying to figure out which way to steer the conversation. "Well honey, you were also a little upset when I had to postpone our honeymoon for work."

"Ohhhh," she said. "Yeah, that sounds like something I might get upset about."

"But it was the happiest day of my life," Sean continued.

"I can believe that one," Tiffany said knowingly. "Lots of joy and laughter."

Robin, laughing hysterically, entered the room with Patrick. "So when the preacher said 'Do you take Elsie Mae,' Sean just started laughing hysterically and pretty much never stopped through the whole ceremony." Tiffany shot Sean a knowing look. "I'm back, Aunt Tiffany. Oh man, I can remember that wedding like it was yesterday."

"Oh me too," Tiffany said. Guilty Sean remained silent.

"Aunt Tiff, this is my husband, Patrick," Robin said.

"Patrick Drake, you really do take after your father," Tiffany said as he extended her hand.

"Not usual my favorite compliment, but I'll take it all the same," Patrick said and winked at her.

"Wow," Tiffany said. "It's uncanny."

"How's everything in here?" Robin said.

"Oh fine, fine," Tiffany said. "Your uncle Sean was just doing everything he could not to tell me about his fits of laughter at our wedding."

"Yeah, thanks, pumpkin," Sean said, kissing his goddaughter on the side of the head.

"She already knew, Uncle Sean," Robin said. "We were talking about it earlier. That's why I went to go get Patrick, so he could hear this story."

"It's too bad that it wasn't videotaped," Patrick said.

"Yeah, what a shame that is," Tiffany said sardonically.

"OK, that's enough fun and frivolity for now," Sean said. "Let's let the missus get some rest, so I can bust her out of this place later."

"Mmm later," Tiffany considered the possibilities.

"I'm glad you're doing better," Patrick said.

"Thanks, Patrick. It's nice to meet you … again," Tiffany said as Robin hugged her. The couple left.

"I'm gonna have to keep my eye on you," Sean said in his most devilish manner.

"Good," Tiffany said, just as suggestively.


	26. Chapter 26

A few weeks later, Sean was working the phones in his makeshift office at the penthouse. His assistant, Ellie, was simultaneously typing on the computer and organizing files.

"Well give Mattison the 10th message when you see him, OK?" Sean said, slamming down the receiver.

"No luck?" Ellie said.

"The only way to get a hold of that guy seems to be to have an emergency that requires his attention," Sean said. He looked over at his busy assistant. "Ellie, thanks a lot for coming here. I know it's not easy to pick up your life at a moment's notice."

"Not a problem, sir," she said. "We can handle your pressing business better in person and you certainly need to be here right now."

"Thanks for understanding," Sean said.

Maren breezed into the room.

"Hi Dad, Hi Ell," she said.

"Hi baby, what you up to?" Sean said.

"Just needed to print something out," she walked over to the printer, picked something up and kept it out of her father's view.

"Sweetie, I asked you not to use the printer when we're working unless you absolutely had to," Sean said.

"I absolutely had to. And I wouldn't have to absolutely have to if I had my own printer here."

"I know it's rough to not have all your things around you, honey, it just can't be helped," Sean said.

"I have an idea," Ellie said. "Why don't you make a list of things you want from the house? When I go back for the weekend, I can pick them up."

"That would be great," Maren said brightly.

"I can't ask you to do that," Sean said.

"You didn't ask," Ellie said.

"Thank you very much. As usual, you go far beyond the call of duty." Maren started to make a move for the door. "Uh, young lady?"

"Yes, Daddy," Maren said.

"Uh oh, she's using 'Daddy'," Sean said. "Something's definitely up."

"Nothing really," Maren said.

"We could save a lot of time, honey, if you just showed that to me," Sean said. Maren sighed and handed over the paper. Sean perused it. "What is this?"

"I just made a friend online, that's all," she said. "He's helping me."

"Do you need help, baby?" Sean asked. Ellie silently got up from her desk and walked out of the room.

"No, he's just someone to talk to. There's been so much going on with Mom and with you and WSB … I just … I don't know, he's easy to talk to."

"You know you can always talk to me, Maren."

"I know that, Dad," she said.

"How did you meet him?"

"I was watching some clips online of the bank thing," she said.

"Honey, you really shouldn't do that. It was hard enough for you to live through it once," Sean said.

"I know, Dad. I can't help it. For some reason, I just keep getting drawn back to it."

"He doesn't know who you are, I hope," Sean said.

"No, my name is Ariel524 online. He doesn't know and I haven't said anything about me or Mom or that I was involved in any of it."

"Well, that's good. I'm still not crazy about it, though," he said.

"That's why I didn't want to say anything about it."

"Why did you print this out?"

"I don't know, there's something about his words. Listen to this: 'I think all those news people who talked about it 24-7 when it happened overdramatized it like it was some kind of movie or something. But it wasn't. But the music didn't rise and the lights didn't come up. There were real people involved and it's not going to be over for them just because the media has stopped talking about it."

Sean thought for a moment. "That is rather insightful."

"I thought so too," Maren reached up on her tiptoes and kissed her father on the cheek. "I wanted to show it to Mom."

"All right, you can talk to him, but you're not going to arrange any secret meetings or anything like that with this person," Sean said.

"I won't, Dad. I promise to tell you about all my secret meetings," she said playfully and bounded out of the room.

Ellie walked back in and resumed her work like nothing had happened. The phone rang, she deftly picked it up. "Sean Donely's office. … Yes, sir, he's right here." She turned to Sean. "It's Mattison."

"I'll take it here," Sean said. "Ellie, would you mind?..." Ellie handed him the phone and left the room again.

"Mattison, what's the latest?"

"No word on the Popovic front. You, of course, know what the Royal Family decided to do about Coulson."

"Yeah, banished to a small island off the coast of Australia. What a hardship," Sean said.

"Donely, I'd like a favor from you," Mattison said.

"Why do I feel like I'm not going to like this so much?"

"Probably because you're not. But I'm going to ask anyway."

"What is it?" Sean said, losing patience.

"I'd like to send Stanton there to work with you on this."

"Why?"

"He knows more about Popovic and his proclivities than anyone who we can trust."

"I don't like him."

"I figured. But as you know, you don't have to like someone to be able to work with them."

Sean harrumphed, thinking of the person he was talking to on the phone. "How very true that is."

"Also, he could be in trouble himself. Popovic isn't stupid, I'm sure he figured out how his last piece of information slipped away."

"So you're sending him to me and my family?"

"It's the last place Popovic would look for him, that's for sure."

Sean rolled his eyes. "Fine. But he gets out of line and I'm gonna pop him one."

"Again?" Mattison said with uncharacteristic humor.

"Yes, again."

Sean hung up the receiver. Ellie reappeared in the office and sat in her chair. "Ellie, can you get in touch with the rental office, see if there's another apartment available in this building?

"Right away," she said, picking up the phone, running a finger down a list of numbers on the desk and punching in the digits.

"Now how do I explain this to my wife and daughter?" Sean asked himself.

Later that night, the Donelys were sitting around the dinner table.

"Mom, you were right, Kelly's clam chowder is delicious," Maren said.

"Yeah, I forgot all about it," said Tiffany, who had become adept at making jokes about the gaps remaining in her memory.

"So you don't mind hanging around Port Charles for a while longer?" Sean asked

"I actually like it," Tiffany said genuinely. "It's reminding me of a lot of things I haven't thought of in a while."

"Like what, Mom," Maren said.

"Stuff about your father," Tiffany said. "Just little things."

"Anything you can tell me?" Maren wisecracked.

"Maybe when you're older," Tiffany winked.

Sean smiled despite the lingering worry that was nagging at him.

"You fell in love here," Maren said.

"That we did," Sean said.

"It feels right to be back," Tiffany said.

"Then I don't mind either," Maren said.

"That's my girl," Sean said and they continued to chow down on the hearty meal.


	27. Chapter 27

Ellie was having a heated conversation on the phone when Sean walked into his makeshift office. "We broke up, why does it matter when I'm coming back? … That's it, good-bye."

Sean looked up from the file he was perusing when he heard the phone slam down. "Everything all right?"

"Yes, fine," Ellie said, a little too brightly.

"I know we had to come to Port Charles rather abruptly, Ellie, but…"

"Really it's not a problem. Just what I needed actually."

Sean wasn't convinced, but he already had a lot on his mind. "Did you get Scott Baldwin on the phone?"

"Yes, he'll be bringing over the court order of protection for Mrs. D and Maren this afternoon."

"Great."

"Sir, do you really think something like that would have an effect when it comes to the kind of people they were dealing with in the bank robbery?"

"Not in practical terms, Ellie," Sean explained. "But if we have the documentation, whenever someone finally nails the scum it makes the case against them that much stronger."

"I see," she said.

"How about some lunch?" Sean said.

"What would you like?" Ellie said, getting her pad ready.

"I'll take liverwurst on rye from Kelly's," Sean said. "And order whatever you want too."

"Thank you, sir," she said.

"Someday I will break you of that 'sir' habit," he said.

"Just not today, I guess," Ellie replied.

"Guess not."

The doorbell rang at the penthouse front door. Ellie started to get up, but Sean waved her off. "I got it." Ellie sat back down, picked up the telephone and started dialing Kelly's.

Sean opened the front door to a smiling Stanton.

"Hi neighbor," Royce said, entering without invitation.

"My favorite would-be terrorist," Sean said.

Tiffany walked down the circular staircase. "I heard the door, is it…" She stopped in her tracks upon seeing Royce. After a second, she continued down the stairs and walked over to them.

"Hello, Mrs. Donely," Royce said.

"Hello, Mr. Stanton."

"You can call me Royce."

Tiffany mulled that over for a second and didn't reply. "Hi honey, how are you feeling?" Sean asked, kissing his wife on the cheek.

"Fine," she said, but he could tell she was a little unsettled.

"You were saying?" Sean said.

It took Tiffany a second to remember what she had been about to say. That was frustrating her, if she lost her train of thought, it took her longer than she would have liked to get it back. "I just thought it would be Robin, she was going to take me to see Emma."

"Oh, that's nice," Sean said.

"Yeah. So what's up here?"

"I was just about to find out," Sean said. "Maybe you should ..."

"No need to run me out of the room, I'm sure I'll forget anything that I hear right after I hear it," Tiffany said.

Sean frowned, he didn't like his wife joking about her condition.

"Not much to report," Royce said. "Still no sign of Popovic or the others."

The doorbell rang again. Tiffany walked over to open it. "Robin, sweetheart!" she said.

"Hi," she said brightly, giving her aunt a hug.

"Hi, pumpkin," Sean said, hugging her as well. Robin's nose crinkled at the pet name.

"Hi, Uncle Sean. You don't know how happy we are to have you back around," she said.

"It's really great to see you," Sean said. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is Royce Stanton. Royce, this is my goddaughter Robin Scorpio Drake."

"Scorpio? As in Robert?" he asked.

"The same," Robin said. "He's my father."

"Well, it's nice to meet you. Your father is a legend around our parts." Robin looked at him quizzically.

"WSB, sweetheart," Sean explained.

"Oh," Robin said. "Nice to meet you too. Anyway, Emma is going to be so excited to see Aunt Tiffany. I gotta tell you when she wakes up in the middle of the night she always settles down and falls back asleep if one of your movies comes on."

"I'm not sure that's a compliment," Tiffany said with a chuckle.

"Well it works for me, so I'd say it is," Robin retorted.

"Fair enough," Tiffany said, going to the closet to get her coat. "Time to meet my adoring public." Sean helped her on with her coat and they shared a lingering kiss before Tiffany and Robert exited. The men sat down on the couch.

"So not even a sighting of the vermin," Sean said.

"I think we're going to have to smoke them out," Royce said.

"It looks that way. But we're going to have to come up with a fail-safe plan. We can't afford any missteps."

Maren bounded breezily down the stairs. She stopped for a second when she saw Royce, almost the same way her mother did.

"I seem to have a certain kind of effect on the Donely women," Royce said.

"I wonder why that is," Maren said, dramatically.

"Tore yourself away from the computer, I see," Sean said.

"Yeah, he couldn't really talk today," Maren said.

"Uh, honey, I really need to talk to Stanton alone."

"That's fine, I wasn't in the mood for a coffee clatch, as Mom would say. I wanted to go down to the hospital for a while. Cousin Robin was talking about how they could use some volunteers in the day care center."

"OK, but take Rob with you."

"I don't think my bodyguard would be that good with kids, Dad," Maren said.

"There's only one kid I'm worried about him taking care of," Sean said, enveloping Maren in a hug. "Now get out of here." He playfully pushed her toward the door.

Maren opened the door and called out to one of the hulking bodyguards sitting on a chair nearby. "Hey, Rob, you're gonna really earn that paycheck today."

Sean laughed as he closed the door behind her. "All right, let's get back down to brass tacks. We got to come up with something so good that not only will Popovic come out of hiding, but he'll do it so quickly that he won't have time to think about what he's doing."

Royce mulled that over in his head as Sean poured them both coffee.

At Robin's, Tiffany was fussing over Emma. "She's gorgeous, she's just gorgeous!"

"I think you're a little prejudiced, Aunt Tiff," Robin said.

"That may be true, but also I know my stuff and this one is gonna be a heart-breaker," Tiffany said.

"The way she wraps everyone around her little finger, I'd have to agree," Robin said.

"I remember when Maren was this age," Tiffany said.

"You do? That's great," Robin said.

"Yeah, she couldn't be around me enough then," she said. "Guess she used that up early."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, she was her father's daughter from the age of five until very recently."

"But everything's OK now, right?"

"Yeah, I got my daughter back. I was a little worried for awhile that I was going to have to make like Angelina Jolie and adopt like a dozen kids so that one of them would be on my side."

"Oh, Aunt Tiff!" The two of them laughed. "How was she as a baby?"

A flash of light crossed Tiffany's eyes. She had gotten use to that happening a lot in recent weeks. But this time it hurt. "Uhhh… oh no. Noooo," she said mournfully.

"Are you all right? Do you want me to take you to the hospital to see Noah?"

Tiffany couldn't move. She had remembered her miscarriage and all the pain was crashing around her like it has just happened.


	28. Chapter 28

The doorbell of the Donely's penthouse rang. There was a delivery boy from Kelly's, with a bodyguard directly behind him holding on to him by his windbreaker. Sean smiled in spite of his attempt not to.

"It's OK, Will, he's fine," Sean said as the bodyguard slowly let go of the frightened boy's jacket.

"Delivery from Kell-Kelly's," he said, handing over the parcel.

"Sorry about that," Sean said, giving him a $20 for the food and another $20 for the trouble.

"Th-thanks," the boy said, starting to recover as he left. Sean closed the door.

"Ellie!" He didn't have to yell it again, unlike when he called for his daughter.

"Yes, s…" she stopped herself just short of the "sir."

"Soup's on," Sean said, putting the bag down on the table and pulling out two aluminum tins. "Sorry, Stanton, didn't know you were coming over at the time."

"It's fine," Royce said.

"Want half of my liverwurst sandwich," Sean offered. Royce's pained expression provided a wordless answer.

"You can have some of my pastrami," Ellie said.

"No, really I'm OK," Royce said.

"OK, if you change your mind, I usually save the second half for dinner," Ellie said. "I'll be in the office."

"Thanks, Ellie," Sean said.

"Yeah, thanks." She left the room.

"Sean, I think the best way … the only way … to draw Popovic out the way you want to do it is by dangling me," Royce said.

"I was sort of coming to that conclusion myself," Sean said.

"Now we have to figure out the best way of doing that."

"Well we still don't know if he fingered me for the switch," Royce said. "If one of the other two who were there with us looked at him sideways, he might have gotten itchy and wasted him without knowing the full story."

"That's a pretty big if," Sean said.

"Yeah, but it's a possibility. And that particular mission was plotted out by Coulson, not Popovic. Sasha is much more of a loose cannon," Royce said.

"Have there been any calls the number he used to use to get a hold of you?" Sean asked.

"There have been a couple. Couldn't get the number, he didn't stay on the line long enough and the signal was being bounced pretty much around the world."

"OK, maybe you should answer it if it rings again."

"Mattison thought I shouldn't."

"Mattison is too busy taking credit for getting all the hostages out alive," Sean said. "He doesn't seem to give a damn that the Popovic and his cronies have three-quarters of the plan for the atom smasher. All he cares about is that the WSB has the last piece of the puzzle. … I think that's naïve. Do you think if Popovic built a little brain trust that they could complete it?"

"I don't think so," Royce said. "From what I saw of the schematics, it's some very detailed precise work."

"Well, look at it this way," Sean said. "What if he gets some scientists and they brainstorm to try to figure out how to make the atom smasher, but they cut corners or they alter it in some fashion that it becomes an even more destructive weapon than it was even supposed to be in the first place."

"That wouldn't be good," Royce said as the phone rang.

"A master of understatement you are, Stanton," Sean said as he crossed to pick it up.

"Uncle Sean?" a worried Robin said.

"What's wrong, Robin?" he said, picking up on it immediately.

"Tiffany …" Robin started.

Now Sean was worried. "What happened?"

"Could you just come over here? I'll explain it when you get here," Robin said.

"I'll be right there," Sean said. "Stanton, we'll have to talk about this more later, I have to go." He was out of the door before Royce could respond.

"OK … yeah … sure," Royce said as he let himself out.

Fifteen minutes later, Sean was pounding on Robin's door. She opened the door and led him to the living room, where Tiffany was sitting on the couch, seemingly holding on to Emma for dear life.

"Sweetheart," Sean said gently. Tiffany looked over at him, her breathing was labored. Emma was getting restless in her arms and started howling. Sean lifted her from Tiffany's arms and gave her to Robin. "Could you give us a couple minutes, sweetheart?"

"Of course," Robin said, carrying Emma off to her room.

Sean sat down next to his inconsolable wife. Her arms were still in mid-air from where she had been holding Emma. He lowered them gently and held her hands. "Sweetheart, what is it?"

"Oh Sean," Tiffany moaned. "Our little boy. I lost our little boy."

"Oh baby," Sean said, pulling her into his arms.

"I'm sorry … I'm sorry … I'm sorry," she said, unable to stop. The pain was so fresh in her mind.

"Baby, I knew you were going to remember this eventually, I … I just didn't want to bring it up," Sean said.

"Why did that have to happen? Sean, I don't understand the world we live in."

"I know, sweetheart. It seems to make less and less sense all the time."

"I'm sorry I didn't protect our baby better," Tiffany said, feeling anew the guilt that she felt at the time of her miscarriage.

"I said it then and I'll say it now, it was not your fault, sweetheart. Too many things happened within a very short period of time. I never thought any one thing was responsible. I think that they all together might have been. Which means I had to take my fair share of the blame. I never forget that. In fact sometimes I remember it when I'm the happiest, when I'm with you and Maren. But it's not painful, it's more like a reminder that, in some small way, he is still with us. Part of the family."

"But think about it, he would be Maren's older brother. That little baby that we only remember from when he was that little would be her older brother … your son."

"I know what you mean, but you just have to see him for the blessing he was. He was very important to us in his way. And of course, Maren does have an older brother," Sean said.

"Who she never sees," Tiffany said. "We barely get a card from him at Christmas, Sean."

"But he keeps in contact with Maren. I think she's already been exchanging emails with him on her computer, when she's not talking to whatever-his-name is." Sean made a mental note to find out what whatever-his-name-is' name was.

"Honey, do you remember what we always do on the anniversary of…" Sean's voice trailed off. He didn't want to say it again for Tiffany's sake.

"I remember," Tiffany said in the softest voice Sean ever heard.

"Well, we'll just do it here. Today. We'll go to the florists, get the most beautiful and colorful bouquet, like we always do. Then we can go down to the docks and toss it in the water and watch it drift away," he said.

Tiffany nodded and Sean helped her up. They leaned on each other as they silently walked out the door.

Back at the penthouse, Maren punched up her computer. She looked at the instant message status bar. MrDarcy2000 was online.

"Yay!" she said girlishly. She furiously typed on her keypad. "Hi!"

"Hi yourself," came the reply. "Have a good day?"

"Yeah, spent some time volunteering at GH," she typed.

"I'm impressed," he replied. "Did you start reading 'Pride and Prejudice' like you said you would to figure out more about my namesake?"

"Yes, I did," she typed back. "And I think Mr. Darcy is a stuck-up prig."

"Well, that's a logical assumption. Keep reading."

"I will." Maren could hear some rustling downstairs. She heard her father calling for her. "I gotta go. Maybe talk later?"

"I hope so," came the reply. "Bye for now."

"Bye."

Maren clicked off her computer and ran downstairs. Her parents were taking off their coats. They looked overly tired. She rushed wordlessly into their arms.


	29. Chapter 29

"Mr. Mattison's on the line for you, sir."

"It's about time," Sean said irritatingly.

"I'm sorry," Ellie said.

Sean looked at his dejected assistant and softened slightly. "Not your fault." She nodded. "Do me a favor and take those papers over to Scott Baldwin's office."

"Yes, sir."

"We still have to work on that 'sir' thing."

"I know, s... Mr. Donely."

Sean swiftly picked up the phone as Ellie gathered the paperwork and left the room.

"Mattison?"

"Donely. I told you I would get in touch with you when I had some news."

"That's not good enough. It's been months. And no one knows where Sasha Popovic has gotten to."

"I do have other business to tend to, Donely. Popovic is not the World Security Bureau's only concern."

"He should be a priority."

"And he is. But the immediate threat was neutralized. And the group he was affiliated with has broken all ties with him."

"It doesn't mean he's not still dangerous to me and my family."

"I know that. That's why Stanton is staying in Port Charles."

"He's not getting anywhere."

"Your family is safe. That should be worth something."

"Of course it's worth something to me. But it's not enough. Guys like him don't give up. Especially when they feel like they've been wronged. And he definitely has to be feeling that, especially if, as you say, his associates aren't interested in doing further business with him."

"You have Stanton. You have Robert Scorpio. It's well-covered territory."

"Somehow that doesn't assure me."

"It never does with the best agents."

"Former agent."

"Yeah, right. I have another call I need to take, I'll..."

"...'call you when I have news.' I know the drill," Sean said.

"Fine, good-bye."

Sean rolled his eyes as he hung up the phone. "Great, just great." He emerged from the office to find his wife and daughter eating breakfast in the living room.

"Morning, sweetheart," Tiffany said, noting his present condition.

"Morning yourself," Sean said, crossing to her and brushing his lips softly against hers. "Mmmm, buttery."

"Yeah, well, I know I shouldn't, but I couldn't resist. Want something to eat?"

"Not right now, thanks."

"Hi daddy," Maren said.

"Hi dollface," Sean said as he kissed his daughter.

"Just one bite," she urged, holding up an English muffin.

He leaned over and took a bite. "Mmmm, jelly. So what are we up to this morning, my lovely ladies?"

"Not much," Tiff said. "Finally pried your daughter away from her computer."

"Why is it always 'my daughter' when she's doing something you don't like?"

"I think the question answers itself," Tiffany teased.

"How's that friend of yours?" Sean asked Maren.

"Mr. Darcy? Oh, fine. He still has me reading Jane Austen."

"Not a bad thing," her mother said.

"Yeah, I rented some of the movies too. 'Sense and Sensibility' was really good. 'Pride and Prejudice' was pretty good too. Mr. Darcy is kinda cute."

Her parents looked at her pointedly. "In the movie. ... The movie."

Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief. Sean didn't really show it, but he was doing the same. "I know we've discussed this before, but you're not going to meet him on your own."

"Yes, we have discussed it before, and I said I wouldn't," Maren said.

"I know you said you wouldn't, but I also know you're my daughter and if you could find some way in or around that you would," he said, taking another bite of her English muffin.

"I'm sounding a little devious here, daddy."

"Not devious, just curious," Tiffany surmised.

"How could I get away with anything wih the two of you around?" Maren teased, jumping up. "I'm going to go read more of my book. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves." She disappeared upstairs.

Sean slumped onto the couch. His concerned wife crossed over and sat next to him.

"I don't think she would try to meet him on her own at this point, Sean," she said. "I don't think she's over that whole hostage thing yet and, outside of us and the people we know here in Port Charles, I don't think she's really willing to trust anyone yet."

"That's probably best for now," he said, rubbing his forehead thoughtfully. "But that's not it."

"Popovic?" Tiffany said, reading her husband's thoughts.

"Guys like that don't just vanish. And if they do, they're going to come back stronger and more dangerous than before."

"You still think he's a danger to us?"

"Yes, I do, honey. It's personal now. You ... Maren ... Stanton ... I'm not really sure where he'll strike next, but I'm pretty sure it'll be on that front."

"I understand why he'd have a problem with Royce, who double-crossed him, but why me and Maren?"

"He's probably sitting somewhere in that whacked-out mind of his retracing everything that went on. The points where the plan went off the rails. And you and Maren were a big part of that."

"The WSB doesn't have anything on him?"

"Not even a sighting for months now."

Tiffany shifted into her husband's arms. "It'll be OK. We'll be very careful. And the WSB will come up with something eventually."

"I hope so, sweetheart. I really hope so," he said, holding on to her firmly but gently.

The doorbell rang. Sean disengaged himself and crossed to the front door.

"Yes, who is it?"

"Delivery for Maren Donely" came the answer from the other side of the door.

Sean reflexively reached for the gun in his shoulder holster. He put it in his left hand and swung the door open with the right. A young man stood there with a bouquet of flowers.

"These are for Maren Donely," he said.

"I'll take them," her father said. "And you are?"

"Steven Pearson from Dove Florists."

Sean made a mental note of the name and company. "Thank you," he said, taking the flowers with his right hand. The young man waited for his tip. "Uh, I'll get you next time, OK?"

He shut the door and reholstered his gun. Tiffany got up and walked over to him as Sean took the card off the post in the middle of the arrangement. "To the woman in my life," he read.

"Sean?" Tiffany said worriedly.

"I knew this wasn't over."


	30. Chapter 30

An hour later, Sean, Robert and Royce were seated in the Donelys' living room going over the new development.

"It's the same message as the one Maren got in Boston on her birthday," Sean said, passing the card to Robert. "I called the florist, same thing as last time. Guy called over the phone, used one of those credit cards you can buy at a store so there's no personal account attached to it."

An unnerved Tiffany walked downstairs, distractedly looking through her purse.

"I don't think I need to go to the hospital right now, Sean," she said. "I'm fine, I've been fine for weeks."

"Honey, Noah said you had to be checked out once a month for a little while longer. Let's just make sure everything stays fine. I'll take you down there."

"I guess it's useless to argue with you," Tiff said.

"It usually is," Robert said.

"One more thing before we go. Ellie!" Sean yelled in the general neighborhood of his office. "We need to get one of the WSB computer guys in here, I want them to run a check on this Mr. Darcy guy that Maren talks to on instant messager."

Royce shifted imperceptibly on the couch.

"Yes, boss," Ellie said upon appearing.

"Call Mattison have him send over a field officer versed in IP addresses."

"Right away."

Royce took a deep breath and stood up. "You don't have to do that."

Ellie stayed where she was as Sean crossed over to Royce. "This could be part of it. He started appearing after the hostage situation. He talks to her every day."

"It's not related, Sean," Royce said.

"How do you know that?" Sean asked.

"I know." And then everyone in the room knew. Ellie disappeared back to the office without a word.

"You?" Sean asked.

"Me," Royce replied.

"Why would you do that?"

"I was just trying to watch over her."

"She has me and her godfather for that."

"Sean, honey, I think we should get going," Tiffany said, trying to defuse the situation.

"Robert, would you do me a favor and take Tiffany to General Hospital?"

"Uh, OK, sure," Robert said.

"Sean..." Tiffany said. Her husband looked her in the eyes and she knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind. She bit her lip, crossed over him to give him a kiss and walked to the door.

"Don't kill him, the paperwork will be murder," Robert said to his friend as he exited with Tiff.

"Want to tell me why didn't you mention this sooner?" Sean asked.

"I thought it was harmless."

"Harmless? She thinks you're her friend."

"I am her friend."

"I'll ask again. Why did you do this?"

"She was pretty upset after what happened with her and her mother. I thought I could help. Just say some things that could help her. Lord knows I couldn't say them straight to her face after ... my involvement in what happened."

Sean turned away from Royce and thought for a moment.

"Did you send her the flowers?"

"No, I didn't."

"Either time?"

"Sean, no. I didn't."

"Do you think they're from Popovic?"

"I know you do."

"Not what I asked."

"They very well could be. But Sean, you were a WSB agent for a long time and had a lot of enemies before that as well. Isn't it possible that the threat could be coming from somewher else?"

"Yeah, it's possible. I just don't think it's probable."

"What should we do about Maren?"

Sean turned back around to him and looked at Royce as if he had two heads.

"There's no need for you to worry about my daughter. We'll handle it later, after this situation is resolved. Until then, I don't want you talking to her online or at all."

"Won't she find that strange?"

"It won't be so strange when she finds out why."

As if on cue, Maren bounded down the stairs at that moment.

"Hi baby," Sean said with mock brightness.

"Hello father," she regarded him brightly. Then with less enthusiasm, "Mr. Stanton."

Royce looked at Sean, then nodded in Maren's direction. "I'll check on the security," he said as he exited.

Maren watched him go. "That is a strange man," she said.

"Ain't it the truth." Sean responded. "So what are you up to?"

"Well my friend isn't online, so I thought I'd go to the hospital and do some volunteer work."

"Your mother just left for there with your uncle. I'll have Matt take you over there."

"Is that really necessary, daddy?"

"Yes, it's really necessary," Sean said.

"OK, fine," she said, whipping open the door. "Matthew, we're going to put your fine bodyguard skills to work now with a very complicated scenario. You're going to drive me to the hospital."

"Very well, miss," Matt responded.

Maren rolled her eyes and blew a kiss back to her father, who responded in kind as she left.

The phone rang. "I'll get it, Ellie!"

"Donely?"

Sean froze on the spot. He recognized the voice in one word. Sasha Popovic.

"Yes?"

"Meet me on the pier in one hour. Alone."

"I don't take orders from you."

"You will if you don't want anything to happen to your wife and daughter."

Sasha hung up. Sean held the receiver in his hand for a minute. He mulled over possibilites - leaving a note, calling Robert, calling the WSB - but just grabbed his coat and walked out of the penthouse.


	31. Chapter 31

A couple hours later, Tiffany and Robert breezed back into the penthouse.

"I love that - wait, wait, wait. 'The doctor will see you now.' And then I'm in there for five minutes and I get a whopping bill," Tiffany moaned.

"You just have to grin and bear it, sweetheart. You had brain surgery, they generally like to keep tabs on you after something like that," Robert retorted.

"I'm fine. I remember everything. Like the time you left me in an alley on a stakeout for half the night."

"Now, now. Your problem wasn't remembering those days. It was your life and times with Sean that were on the fritz."

"OK, well, if we're going to go there, then I remember all the times you ruined my romantic encounters with a phone call," Tiffany chided.

"You were so busy being amorous all the time, it was hard not to."

Tiffany blushed and looked away. "Yeah, all the times when you didn't have Sean involved in some caper or other. Speaking of my husband ... Sean! Sean!"

The room stayed quiet.

"I'll look upstairs," Tiff said, darting up the stairs. "We're back, sweetheart. Clean bill of health as expected."

Robert made himself comfortable on the couch. Tiffany returned a minute later. "He's not up there. Ah, the office." She walked over to the office door, knocked and peered in.

"Hi, Ellie. Sean around?"

"No, Mrs. D. I think he left soon after you did."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No, I didn't even know he was gone until I went for a drink of water like an hour later."

"Hmmm, OK, thanks."

Tiffany went back into the living room. "He's not in there. Didn't tell Ellie he was leaving."

"The kid doesn't seem to be here either," Robert said, referring to Royce. "No signs of struggle, I guess he didn't knock his block off."

"Don't you think it's a little strange he didn't let her know where he was going?" Tiffany said, looking around for a note and coming up empty.

"Why don't you call him?"

"Good idea," Tiffany pulled her cell phone out of her person, pressed the No. 1 dial button on the phone. It rang a couple of times, then connected.

"Hello? Sean? Where are you?"

The phone went dead. Tiffany froze.

"Tiff? What is it?"

"I don't know, it sounded like he picked up but then it was cut off." She redialed Sean's number. The line rang and rang, then went to voicemail. She disconnected the call and put the phone down.

"Don't look so worried, you know how he is," Robert said.

"Yeah, I know he is," she said, worried.

Maren and Matt entered the penthouse. "Really, Matthew, I don't think there was any need to do a complete search of that nice old man."

"He was looking at you funny, Miss Donely," Matt said.

"He was in a hospital gown and using a walker. Really, I don't think he was any threat," Maren replied. "They'll probably never let me back in that building again to volunteer."

"Hi Mom, Hi Uncle Robert."

"Hi, kid," Robert said.

Maren made a face at him.

"I swear you're the spitting image of your mother," Robert said. "I can't tell you the number of times I've seen that look. Right, Tiff?"

Tiffany looked up at the sound of her name. "Oh, yeah."

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"Nothing ... I think."

"Where's Dad?"

"I'm not sure."

"Did you call him?"

"Yes, he didn't answer."

"Probably just busy with ..." Maren stopped as the front door swung open and Sean staggered in. There was blood emanating from several places on his coat.

"Sean!" Tiffany cried as she and the others rushed over to him just as he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Robert quickly turned him over, putting Sean's head on his lap. "Sean? Sean?" He checked his pulse and pulled away slowly.

"He's dead," he said with deep sorrow.


	32. Chapter 32

Teary-eyed Tiffany was holding a weeping Maren close to her as Robert and Matt continued performing CPR on the lifeless Sean to no avail. The paramedics took over after arriving on the scene and Robert led Tiffany and Maren to the couch with Ellie following.

"I'm sorry, Tiff," Robert said. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't understand this, I don't understand," Tiffany wailed.

"Daddy," Maren whispered between sobs and tried to look over to the paramedics in hopes of there still being hope.

"Ellie, I want you to tell me everything that happened."

"It's really not much, Mr. Scorpio. I left the room when Mr. Stanton was still here. And the only other thing that happened until you and Mrs. D came home was a phone call."

"Phone call?" Robert said. "Who was it?"

"I don't know," Ellie said in a shaky voice. "Mr. D yelled that he would get it and he must have, because it stopped ringing."

"You didn't pick it up at all, you don't know who was on the other end?" Robert asked.

"No, no, I just let him get it. I was just doing some typing and, like I said, an hour or so later I got thirsty, and I got up to get some water and that's when I noticed he was gone. He didn't say he was leaving."

"He usually does though, right?"

"Yes, he always told me ... tells me when he's going to leave."

"Any other phone calls today?"

"Just Mr. Baldwin's office, wanting some papers that I brought over there."

"If there were no other calls, what about *69?" Maren asked shakily.

"Good girl," Robert said and got up and went over to the phone. "You called the paramedics on the office line?" Ellie shook her head affirmatively.

Robert picked up the phone, dialed *69 and heard ringing at the other end. Finally someone picked up the phone. "Hello? Who is this?"

"This is a pay phone, mister."

"Where are you?"

"On the docks by the pier."

"This is official police business. I want you to stay by that phone. Don't let anyone else use it and don't touch anything else, OK?"

"Uh, OK, sir."

Robert hung up and then knelt by Tiffany and Maren. "I'm going to go check that phone out. You going to be OK?"

Tiffany shook her head. "No, but you go."

"OK, luv. I'll be back as soon as I can." Robert crossed over to the paramedics.

"I'm sorry, sir. We did all we could," one of the EMTs said.

"I know, thank you. Would you call this in, please? Get a full forensics team and the coroner out here and ask them to send some people down to pier as well."

"Yes, sir."

Robert looked back over at his inconsolable friends before leaving just as Royce arrived.

"Oh, no, no!" Royce said. He moved over to the couch.

"Mrs. Donely ... Maren ... what happened?"

"We don't know," Tiffany stammered.

The EMTs pulled a sheet over Sean's head, setting off a new wave of tears from the women.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Royce said.

Maren pulled out of her mother's grasp, looked over to the door and ran upstairs.

"Would you two mind waiting here in case for the police?" Tiffany asked, not really caring about the response.

"Of course not," Ellie said.

Tiffany also took a peek toward the door before stifling another tear and heading up to Maren's room. She wasn't in there. Tiffany peeked into her own bedroom, where Maren was curled up in a fetal position against Sean's pillow. She slid in behind her daugher, putting her arms around her and the pillow.

"It smells like daddy," Maren sobbed.

"I know, baby," Tiffany said. They huddled together and cried.

An hour or so later, Robert was coordinating the investigation at the pier, trying to keep his mind off why he was doing so. An investigative team was taking prints off the phone and questioning the person who picked it up when Robert called. Another officer brought a middle-aged man over to Robert.

"I think this man may have some information for you, Mr. Scorpio," the officer said.

"What is it?" Robert said.

"He saw someone making a call here around the time that it was placed."

Robert pulled a photo from the inside pocket of trenchcoat and dreaded the response.

"This man?"

"Yes, that was him," the man replied.

"Popovic," Robert said to no one in particular.


	33. Chapter 33

A few days later, Port Charles turned out for Sean's funeral. Among the attendees were Sean's son Conner with his wife and two children, many doctors and nurses from General Hospital with their families and various World Security Bureau personnel, some there to pay respects and others for security reasons. An exhausted Tiffany and Maren accepted condolences from Robin, Patrick, Noah, Luke, Scott, Mattison, Royce, Ellie and others as they worked their way up to the coffin.

Tiffany looked at her husband, flashing on many times she had with him the way she had during her recovery from amnesia. She leaned over, trying to resist the urge to nudge him with her nose the way she used to when he was asleep and she was awake. "There's always been just one man for me. I love you," she said and brushed her lips on his. The flashes of memory stopped and she drew back slowly and warily.

"Daddy, I ..." Maren started and she didn't know what to say. "You're the best father in the world and that's not going to stop. I'll try to make you proud of me."

She kissed him on the cheek and moved into her mother's arms. Tiffany was still staring into the coffin. Robert stepped up to them to lead them to their seats in the front row and Tiffany looked at him sideways, as if trying to read him. He stepped up to the podium.

"Sean Donely loved life," Robert started. "That's why it's almost impossible to be here today and to try and talk about life without him it. When I first met him, he was all about the job. Literally saving the world. Making it safe for democracy, all those comic-book principles that you hear about. He really wanted to achieve that.

"He really loved people. He loved looking after and caring for them and making sure everything was as all right as it could be in their lives. He never said know when someone needed his help, no matter if it was dangerous or not. He was a great friend. A best friend to me and my family.

"And out of all the people he loved in this world, he loved two people the most. Two women. Two spectacular women. The first one, the first one really knocked him for a loop. I think he was convinced he would never find his perfect match. And then one day she kinda sauntered into his life. And he loved her, he really loved her. It used to make me sick actually how much they would hold hands and kiss and just be in love.

"And then one very special day, the other lady came into his life. And he would have loved her so much anyway because she looked so much like her mother. But that's not why he loved her. He loved her because she fascinated him - this bright, shining creature who gave him so much hope and joy about all those principles he believed so much in.

"I'll miss my friend forever. We all will."

Tears started rolling down Maren's face, but Tiffany wasn't registering any emotion, as though she were in shock. Robert stepped down from the podium and over to them.

"Do you want to say something, Tiff?" he asked.

She didn't make eye contact and just shook her head.

"Can I say something, Mom?" Maren inquired.

"Of course, baby," Tiffany said.

Robert helped Maren to her feet, gave her a hug of encouragement and took a seat next to her mother.

"My dad ... I really loved my dad ... love my dad. When I was growing up, he was so much fun to have around. I used to say I wanted to marry him." Maren's words started to have an effect on Tiffany. "I don't understand this, I have to just say it, I don't understand. How someone so good with so much love could be gone. And all I can think to say is that I'll just try to carry on the way he did, be like him as much as possible. I love you, daddy."

Maren stepped down and rushed into her mother's arms. Royce watched, his heart breaking for her. At the priest's indication, Terry O'Conner stepped up to sing a hymn.

A few hours later, the Donely women were accepting some final condolences again at the penthouse as the last few friends and family members filed out.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and lie down," Maren said. Robert stepped forward to give her a hug.

"OK, baby," Tiffany said and Maren hugged her mother too before disappearing upstairs. Tiffany waited until she was gone before turning back to Robert.

"I want to talk to you."

"Of course, I'll always be here for you," Robert responded.

"Is he really dead?"

"What?"

"Listen, Robert, how many people's non-deaths have we mourned over the years? Why would someone put my daughter and myself through this for nothing?"

"Tiff, I think you better sit down. I know you're in shock. But he's gone, luv. I'm sorry, he is."

"He's not gone. I don't believe he's gone."

"Sweetheart, we just came from his funeral. You saw him die in this apartment with your own eyes."

"I can't explain it, Robert. I just know it."

"There was an autopsy. Everything was checked. Blood type, dental records, scars. We identified the body ourselves."

"Robert, I kissed him on the lips. It wasn't him."

"Tiffany, I don't know an easy way to say this. He's dead. He wasn't going to kiss you back."

"No. ... I'm going to see Mattison. Something's not right. Stay here with Maren."

Tiffany grabbed her purse and bolted out the door before Robert could say anything further. He fell back on the couch in disbelief.


	34. Chapter 34

Mattison rubbed his temples as e went over the list of calls he had to return. He wasn't in the mood for it, not after coming back from Donely's funeral. In a hotel room, hundreds of miles from home. "What a way to live," he said to himself. "Of course, it's better than the alternative. Sorry, Donely."

A furious knocking came from the door. "Yes?" he inquired.

"Mr. Mattison, it's Tiffany Hill Donely. I'd like to speak with you."

Mattison's lips tightened as he walked over to the door. "When I told you to let me know if there was anything I could do for you or your family, I didn't realize you'd be contacting me so soon."

"i want some information from you," Tiffany said determinedly as she entered the room.

"What kind of information?" he asked, looking down the hallway in a trademark WSB suspicious nature before closing the door.

"Two things. One: Is my husband alive?"

Mattison was truly stunned. "What?"

"You heard me. Is Sean alive?"

"But we just came from his funeral."

Tiffany sort of snorted at that. "How many funerals have I been to that the WSB has been a party to? Deaths that were faked or assumed because of work going on for your agency. If my husband is involved in that, either of his free will or not, I have a right to know."

"Mrs. Donely, I can assure you, there's nothing like that going on here."

"That's what you told Sean and Mac when they came around investigating Robert and Anna's disappearance, right? That's what your agency told Felicia when Frisco was presumed dead, right? Why should I believe one word that comes out of your mouth?"

"Given the history, I guess you probably shouldn't. I'd still like to assure you that I'm telling the truth," Mattison said.

"Not very assuring," Tiffany said. "The second thing ... where is Sasha Popovic?"

Again Mattison was taken aback by her question. "Uh, we don't exactly know and if we did, I couldn't tell you."

"Why is that?" she said.

"Matters of security," he said.

"Hmmm," Tiffany considered. "Whose? Mine or his?"

"It's a governmental matter. We don't go around giving private citizens intel on known criminals."

"Well, I am going to find him, I assure you of that. If there's one thing I learned from my husband, it's how to get a job done."

"Mrs. Donely ... Tiffany ... you really should leave this to ..."

"Leave it to you? You know what was left to you? Sean's safety. Now I don't think he's dead, and I've been reading your body language - another of Sean's old WSB tricks - since I got in here and I think you're surprised by that fact that I think that he's alive, but the fact remains that he was under your protection. And during that time, he disappeared. Don't you think you owe something to his family besides some half-hearted condolences?"

"They weren't half-hearted. I thought a lot of your husband."

"Be that as it may, once again he put his life on the line and his trust in your agency. And he's gone."

"He IS gone, Tiffany. And we'll do everything we can to nail Popovic, but you have to let us do it."

"What do you have to go on? Some leads about what island he may or may not be cavorting on? What you need is something that's going to get his attention."

"We can do that with Stanton," Mattison said.

"Maybe that's true. But maybe that situation is a little too volatile as well. I mean, someone like Popovic, might just pop Stanton with a gun the second he lays on him. But someone who Sasha wants to play mind games with ... maybe that buys you a little more time."

"You mean you?" he said incredulously.

"Yes, I mean me," Tiffany replied plaintively. "I certainly don't mean my daughter. And I do sort of have some background in this."

"From Sean?"

"Yes, from Sean."

"He would kill me if I let you do this."

"If he's really gone like you say he is, that won't be a problem," she said, not believing those words but trying to lighten the heavy mood with a tone often used by her husband.

"We have a good lead on where he might be," Mattison admitted.

"I thought so."

"We can send you in, but we won't be able to do anything of an official nature until we get some proof that he's there and we can convince the local government of that fact. That might leave you at Popovic's mercy for some amount of time."

"I can handle it," she said determinedly.

"I'm not sure you can," Mattison said. "But it might be the only option we have right now."


	35. Chapter 35

Tiffany returned to the penthouse, resolved to the plan Mattison was starting to put into motion back at his hotel.

"Now the hard part," she said as she closed the door.

Robert came out of the office. "Did you get the answers you needed, Tiff?"

"Yes, I did."

"What did he say?"

"As far as the WSB is concerned, he's dead."

"I'm sorry, you know I would do anything if that wasn't the case."

Tiff walked to the tray table and poured herself a glass of water, then took a sip before turning back to him.

"I have to go away for a while, Robert."

"Where are you going?

"I'd rather not say. In fact, I'm not really sure."

Robert studied her face, she looked determined and unmovable.

"I know you're still in shock about this ... we all are."

"I need you to watch over Maren for me."

"Well, of course. I'd do anything for her, you know that."

"I do. It's very important to me, Robert. This is going to be difficult for her and she'll need you not just to protect her but to be there for her. She's not going to understand."

"I'm not sure I do."

"I'm going after him."

"You still think Sean's still alive, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. But that's not what I meant. I'm going after Popovic. For answers."

"I don't think you should do that."

"I know you don't. But I have to."

"No, you don't. The WSB can handle it."

"I'm not so sure they can. But that's not even the point. Tell me, Robert, if the situation was reversed, what would Sean do? You think he'd just let it go and let the WSB take care of it?"

"I think he'd stay here with Maren," he said.

Tiffany half-smiled at her old friend. "There's no way he'd do that and I know you believe that as much as I do."

"You have a daughter who needs you."

"I'm no good to her right now. And I won't be until I resolve this."

"There's no way to make you see reason?"

"Has that ever worked with me before?" Robert shook his head and she continued. "Then it's certainly not going to now. But you don't have to worry, Robert."

"I'm not sure I can do anything but worry about you right now."

"I know you think I'm nuts. But I really feel a heightened sense of awareness and no fear. It must actually be a lot like the way you and Sean felt you were with the WSB."

Robert nodded, he did know the sensation she was having all too well.

"I understand it now," she said. "This is what it took to make me finally get it. Anyway, I need to go talk to Maren."

Tiffany climbed the stairs to the bedrooms. She found her daughter on her bed reading "Pride and Prejudice."

"You really like that book, don't you, baby?" she said.

"Yeah, Mom. I didn't get at first, but I think I'm starting to now." She looked up at her mother and froze, then slowly dropped the book to the bed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing really. I kind of need to get away for a while."

"By yourself? Can't I go with you?"

"I think I just need some time. But I want to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Just something I've been thinking a lot about," Tiffany sat on the bed besides her daughter and started stroking her hair. "You know when you were born, I was so happy. I had been really scared, I'd had a miscarriage, and until the moment you were in my arms, I wasn't entirely sure that you'd be OK.

"But I shouldn't have worried, because right from the start, you were tough. People always say you look so much like me, but you remind me so much of your father. That toughness. And your eyes - the way you really listen to what someone is saying ... your compassion ... your heart. Just like him."

"Then why are you going to leave me alone?"

"No, I won't do that. You have Uncle Robert and all our family and friends."

"I need you," Maren said softly, tears starting to fill her eyes.

"Oh baby, I need you too. In fact, there are only two things I really need in this world. And you're one of them."

"...And the other is Daddy," Maren continued.

"Yes, the other is your father. And in order to have that kind of love, you really have to put your heart on the line. You have to open yourself up to the world. So no matter what happens, I want you to do that."

"You sound like you're saying goodbye."

"Just for now, sweetheart," Tiffany said and inside she was praying that it was true. "Just for now." She pulled Maren into her arms and rocked her like she did when they were mother and baby.

Downstairs, Robert opened the door to Stanton.

"Mattison told me that I should move in here and keep 24-hour surveillance on Maren," Royce said. "Is something going on?"

"It appears so," Robert said as Tiffany brought a small bag down the stairs. "You packed everything you need in that?" he teased.

"Yeah, I don't think I need much more than this," she said. "Hi Royce. Robert, can I have a minute with him?"

"Yes, luv. Coffee needs freshening up anyway," Robert said as he headed for the kitchen.

"What's up?" Royce said.

"I'm going away for a little while," Tiffany said. "And I know Robert will do as much as he can to watch over Maren, but he might need some help in keeping her safe. I think I can trust you, and I'm going to with the most precious thing in my life."

"I appreciate that after anything you and your family have been through," he said.

"I want you to promise that you'll look after her."

"Where are you planning to do?" he inquired again.

"Yes or no?"

"Yes," Royce said.

"I thought so," she said, putting a reassuring hand on his arm. "It's very important to me and it would be to my husband as well."

"He wasn't exactly my biggest fan," Royce said.

"No," Tiffany chuckled. "But I think if the chips were down, he would have trusted you to watch over her the way he would."

"He could."

"I believe that. Thank you. Well, I really need to leave. I don't really want a big farewell scene with Robert, so I'm just going to get going." She grabbed her bag, looked back at the stairs where a teary-eyed Maren was coming down.

"Bye, baby girl, I love you."

"I love you too, Mommy," Maren said and Tiffany blew her a kiss and walked out the door. Maren sunk down on the stairs.

Royce walked over to offer support. "You OK?" he asked.

"Not really," she said. "It felt like Mom was saying good-bye ... forever."


	36. Chapter 36

Maren wasn't understanding it any better a day later. She irritatedly bounced down the penthouse stairs and flopped on the couch, where Stanton was busy attending to paperwork.

"What's up, kid?" he said.

She wrinkled her nose at being referred to as kid. "Oh, I don't know. My dad's dead, my mom's gone, even Mr. Darcy seems to have disappeared."

Royce stopped what he was doing and looked at her, mulling over his options. He put down the file he was working on. "Maren, I think you should know something."

"Oh good, someone's finally going to tell me something about anything," she said.

He smiled in reaction to her flip comment, but then got serious again. "I know your dad didn't want me to tell you this, but he's not around to do it and it doesn't seem to be very high on your mom's priority list..."

"Don't say anything about my mom. She's going through a lot right now. She loved my father very, very much."

"You're a great kid ... uh, a great daughter, Maren. I don't know a lot of people who could look past their own grief at any age let alone yours."

"I'm almost 16," Maren said with childlike enthusiasm.

"I know. What I mean is, you're sort of 16 going on 40. I don't think a lot of teenagers see the world the way you do." She eyed him warily, not sure if she was getting a compliment or not.

"Anyway," he continued. "What I wanted to tell you is that your friend Mr. Darcy ... is me."

"What? No, it couldn't be," she said with total surprise.

"I'm afraid so."

"I don't understand. Why?"

"That's the same thing your dad said. I'm not sure how to explain it except to say I felt very guilty about what happened at the bank, even though I was doing my job. I felt guilty about you and your mom. I have something of a background in psychology and I thought I could help you, but you certainly wouldn't have been interested in hearing what I had to say face to face at that time."

A stunned Maren got up from the couch. "All those things I told you, really personal stuff..."

"That was just between you and me. I would never tell anyone else about that."

"It's embarrassing. You know things about me that I didn't even know I was feeling until I typed them out in an instant message."

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about," Royce said gently. "You didn't say anything that wasn't completely natural considering the circumstances you went through."

"This is great. Another illusion shattered." Maren ran up the stairs.

"I'm really sorry, kid," Royce said aloud, then sat back down on the couch and attempted to distract himself by returning to his paperwork.

In the Caribbean, Mattison was setting Tiffany up with a fan tail launch and driver. He gave her a pair of heels. "Not very attractive," she said.

"No, they're just functional," Mattison said, popping out the heel to reveal a microchip. "All you have to do is push this part of the heel here hard. Then just press the chip and we'll know that it's a 'go' for crashing Popovic's little island paradise."

"Technology can help stop the bad guys, it just can't prevent us from making more," Tiffany said.

"We're working on it," Mattison said for his own amusement. "Don't get into head games with this guy. Frankly, I'd prefer it if you went for the shoe the minute you were alone after seeing him."

Tiffany didn't say anything. "OK, you're not going to do that," he continued. "Just don't wait too long, all right?" Still nothing from her. "Then I can contact the UN and we'll get the ball rolling."

The silence was making Mattison uncomfortable, he obviously wasn't thrilled with putting his operation in the hands of a non-agent with her own agenda. "This is very important. We're not going to be there an hour after you signal me. Even with an emergency session, it's going to take some time for us to get approval to make our move."

"What if the chip doesn't work?" Tiffany said, working out possible scenarios in her head.

"I have another one," he said, pulling it out of his pocket. "Let's put it in your locket."

She reached down and opened the locket around her neck. Seeing the pictures of Sean and Maren reminded Tiffany anew of what was at stake. Mattison deftly removed the one of Sean, slipped the chip in to the locket and recovered it with the photo. "There, can't even tell it's there. Technology at its finest. If you don't see us within a day of when you signaled, then use this one."

"I better get going," she said, rubbing her hand thoughtfully over the locket.

"Be careful," he said genuinely.

"I will. I have to." Mattison helped Tiffany onto the boat and watched it pull away from the shore.

"I hope this was the right decision," he muttered to himself as the boat disappeared from sight.


	37. Chapter 37

An angry Sasha stormed into his control room.

"What do you mean there's a boat approaching?" he demanded.

"It's just a launch, sir," his underling offered. "Two people on it, one's a woman."

"A woman?" Sasha asked, raising an intrigued eyebrow. "Danielle? Katya, maybe." His eyes focused on the screen that was tracking the boat's movements. "Oh, I don't believe this. Tiffany Hill Donely."

"Want us to blow it out of the water?" another of his minions said.

"Uh, no," Sasha responded. "This is far too intriguing to handle in such a manner. Bring her to me when she lands."

"Yes, sir," they both said in unison.

An hour later, an unhappy Tiffany was escorted into Sasha's living room, a dark place that seemed more like a lair to her.

"Search her," Sasha ordered.

"We already did," one of his henchman said.

"Do it again, in front of me," he said.

Tiffany and Popovic stared at each other as the men followed his orders. One of them dumped her bag on the floor and started rifling through the possessions while the other did a rather thorough search of her person - including her locket and her shoes. Neither Tiff nor Sasha flinched.

Finally the one searching her pulled away. "Was it good for you?" she chided.

"Nothing, sir," he said, ignoring her and talking to his boss.

"Really, you got nothing out of searching such a beautiful woman. There must be something wrong with you," Sasha said. His minion didn't react. "You both can go."

"I guess now is the point where I ask you what the hell you are doing here," he said to his new guest.

"I think you already know."

"Tell me anyway," he said.

"You killed my husband. I want some answers."

"Answers?"

"Yes, like why."

"Don't you know I'm a crazed madman? It was on the news and all over the Internet."

"Oh yes, I think I remember hearing something about that."

"Then why on Earth would you come out here?"

"I don't know," Tiffany said and part of her meant it. "I was sort of compelled to. Sort of like the compulsion you have to make people pay for how you feel you've been wronged."

"Hmmm," he said.

"I mean, didn't I wrong you? I was one of the reasons your plan didn't exactly pan out, right? Aren't you still looking for revenge on me?"

"Not quite at this moment," Sasha responded. "You're very intriguing." He started circling around her. "I mean, I don't usually go for older women, but I might be willing to make an exception. You're downright fascinating."

"So you don't mind that I'm here?" she asked. "The reception I got earlier sort of indicated otherwise."

"Well, you caught me a little off guard. I wasn't exactly expecting you."

"Starting to regain your composure?"

"A bit." Sasha's eyes were drawn to her locket and he moved closer to her to touch it. He flipped it open, barely looked at the picture of Sean and ran his finger down the picture of Maren. Tiffany fought every impulse in her body to either pull away or to punch him and concentrated on trying not to appear rattled.

"How is Maren?" he said smarmily.

"I'd rather not talk about my daughter," she said.

He ran his finger along the picture again and popped the locket closed. A sigh of relief ran through Tiffany's mind, but she didn't actually exhale.

"Come on, how are we supposed to get better acquainted if you don't talk about something so important in your life?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't really know much of anything right now. I'm exhausted ... from my trip, from my life. I'm not real sure what I'm doing here."

"Like you said, you felt compelled to be here."

"Yes, but to what end?"

"I'm not real sure of that either," Sasha said. "Well, we're not going to figure it out right now. So I'll tell you what, I'll set you up in one of our delightful guest bedrooms. Maybe you can get in a nap or something and we can talk more at dinner."

A servant appeared, seemingly out of nowhere and without a signal from Popovic. He took Tiffany's bag and motioned for him to follow.

"Go ahead, I have some business to take care of," Sasha said. Tiffany followed the servant out of the room. A henchman appeared in the doorway a second later.

"Go to the control room and turn on the recorder for those rooms," Sasha whispered. "I want every moment she's in there documented."

"Yes, sir, right away," he said and promptly disappeared from view.

"Not exactly how I thought my day would go, but I can work with this," Sasha said, smiling smugly as he walked out of the house.

Upstairs, Tiffany entered a gorgeous bedroom, obviously decorated with female visitors in mind. "And I thought the living room was a lair," she said under her breath. The servant placed her bag on a mahogany table and disappeared without further word. Expecting that she was being watched, Tiff did a cursory examination of the room and adjoining bathroom, then gingerly kicked off her shoes - trying hard not to let thoughts of the microchip register on her face - and laid down on the bed.

Twenty minutes later, Sasha entered a stone cabin on the far side of his island. He walked through the door to a back room, another makeshift control room.

"Any problems?" he said to the man watching video feeds of a darkened room.

"No, nothing, sir."

"Very well, thank you. Would you mind turning that off until I come back up here?"

"Of course." The man switched the video knobs off and Sasha exited the room.

He descended a staircase also made of stone, then took out a giant antique key that looked like some kind of movie prop from his pocket and swung open the huge stone door.

"I really love this room," he said. "Don't you?"

He turned to face a figure who could be barely be seen in the darkness, but who was obviously slumped on the cold stone floor. "Actually I don't," came a weary voice. It was Sean.

"Such an ungrateful houseguest," Sasha said.

"Oh yeah, much for me to be grateful about," he said. "Like I haven't gotten my daily punch in the face ... jaw ... gut yet."

"You will. This one's a little more proverbial, though." Sean waited on the revelation. "Your wife is here."


	38. Chapter 38

The realization that Tiffany was now in the hands of Popovic too did hit Sean like three punches. Sasha smiled, knowing that to be the case.

"She looks great too," Sasha said. "No worse for wear. Which reminds me of something I don't think I've told you yet. You didn't just disappear, Donely, everyone thinks you're dead."

Another wave of anguish washed over the exhausted Sean.

"I don't think they'd just take your word for it, Popovic," he said, trying to avoid the barrage of thoughts about the toll that was taken on his wife, daughter and friends.

"They didn't. Incontrovertible proof I think they call it. You dead."

Sean's mind was spinning.

"They had a funeral and everything, very touching, I saw the video," Sasha said. "Your best friend spoke, your daughter did, lots of crying, beautiful mournful music. The works."

Sean remained silent.

"I like this look on you ... defeated. Not just physically, which I of course enjoy immensely. This is a whole other level," Sasha continued.

"I'm sure you were growing tired of beating up on someone you're barely keeping alive every day," Sean muttered.

"You get rice and water every other day, Donely. And it's brown rice, very healthy you know."

"Yeah, I feel like a million bucks."

"So back to the late-breaking news, your wife..."

"Don't you touch her."

"Or what?"

Sean had a vision of killing Popovic with his bare hands.

"What if she wants me to? I mean, after all, what is she doing here? Her husband's gone. I exacted my revenge as far as she knows. ... Now she might be here for some of her own. I can't tell you how wildly exciting I find that. Excuse me for a second..."

Sasha exited, locking the door behind him, went back upstairs to the the control room and signaled for his henchman to turn the video feed back on. "Where is that cordless monitor we have?"

"Right here, sir," the man said, opening a closet door and pulling it off the shelf.

Sasha took it and made his way back downstairs. He opened the door and set it up on a nearby wooden table, then flicked it on. Sean's eyes had trouble adjusting to the first light he had seen in quite some time.

"Thought you might want to watch. Now this is battery-operated, so I can't promise you that it might not go dead at some inopportune time, but it's better than nothing, right?

"Gotta go, Donely. I have dinner plans, you understand." Sasha exited, relocking the door and merrily flipping the key into the air before putting it back in his pocket. He went back into the control room.

"I'd like you to monitor the feed from the house, basically funnel any footage of me and the beautiful blonde onto that monitor," he said. "No audio."

"Will do, sir."

Downstairs, Sean's head was pounding. His thoughts were a blur.

"What are you doing here, baby?" he said to himself. "And why would Robert let you go? ... Maren. What this must be doing to her."

He unsteadily got to his feet. "OK, Donely, pull yourself together." He surveyed the room for the millionth time, desperate to find some kind of chink in the stone facade.

A couple of hours later, Sasha and Tiffany were seated at the dinner table. Sean was watching from his makeshift prison. He walked up to the monitor, tracing a finger along his wife's arm.

"You clean up very well with your limited means," Sasha said.

"Thank you," Tiffany said without much meaning.

"Feeling a little better?"

"A little refreshed maybe. Better, I'm not so sure."

"I'm sure dinner will help. We're having some lovely lobster."

The word made Tiffany flash on when she was in the hospital with amnesia and Sean had brought her lobster from her favorite seafood restaurant.

"Thinking about your husband?" Sasha guessed correctly.

"It happens," she said.

"I'm sure it does," he said.

At the monitor, Sean was trying to read their lips, but really only catching a word here or there.

"The room you put me up in is lovely," Tiffany said.

"I've had no complaints," Sasha said in a tone that Tiffany knew probably got him whatever he wanted from his female companions.

"Don't any of these women have a problem with being stashed away and you popping in on them as the mood strikes you? I mean..."

"I know what you mean," Sasha said. "I spend plenty of time with them and like I said, no complaints yet."

"Interesting."

"You have a problem with that?"

"I would have a problem with that if the man I was with wasn't with me in every way."

"So your husband..."

"Why do you keep bringing him up?" Tiffany interjected.

"I like to see your reaction when I say his name, I have to admit," Sasha said. "So your husband never left you behind when his work had to take precedence?"

"He wouldn't have ever left me in one room while he slept in another."

"How very high maintenance of you."

"Didn't seem to bother him," she said.

"He was a lucky man."

"Not after you got your hands on him," Tiffany uttered before she could stop herself.

Sasha smiled. "I was wondering when you would show a crack in that beautiful armor."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Not tonight, I don't think. Let's just enjoy our dinner."

The servant appeared with two silver trays, placed one in front of Tiffany and the other in front of his boss. In his stone room, Sean was more steamed than the lobster.


	39. Chapter 39

An angry Robert was on the phone with the World Security Bureau at the Donely's penthouse as Stanton and Ellie looked on.

"Look, this might be directly related to one of the bureau's cases, a big one. So tell Mattison to get back to me right away." He slammed the phone down.

"Anything yet?" Maren said, after hearing the commotion from upstairs.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, not yet," Robert said.

"I can't believe Mom wouldn't try to contact me after a couple of days, Uncle Robert," she said.

"I can't believe that either, but sometimes people who are dealing with grief don't act the way they normally would," he said gently.

"I'm sure she will call as soon as she can," Royce added.

"Maren, can I get something for you?" Ellie asked.

"Thanks, Ellie, I don't need anything," she said, flopping into the armchair. A thought crossed her mind. "Ellie, I can't believe you're still here. I mean, you probably haven't been paid in weeks."

Ellie laughed. "Trust you to think of that, M. It's not a problem."

"It really is very nice of you to stay around and help out," Royce said.

"It's my pleasure. Maren and the Donelys are like family to me. I couldn't exactly leave right now when they need...," she stopped mid-sentence.

The phone rang. Robert pounced on it. "Hello? It's about time. Mattison."

"What is it, Scorpio?" Mattison said shortly. "I'm kind of busy right now."

"No one's heard from Tiffany Donely. And I'm starting to get concerned. It's not like her to disappear like this," Robert said.

Mattison was starting to get concerned himself. "I don't know how I can help you. All I can say is I haven't heard from her lately."

"I'd like to put out some kind of bureau bulletin on her. Just in case someone runs across her. She's got a daughter here who would like to see her mom," Robert said.

"I understand. I'll see what I can do," Mattison said, hanging up the phone. Then to himself, "It's all in the lady's hands now."

Sasha and Tiffany had just come back into his house from a tour of the island, one that didn't go anywhere near the stone house where Sean was being held. The monitor in Sean's cell turned on as they entered the living room and he crawled over to the set.

"Well, I think we've danced around this enough, Mrs. Donely," he said. "I suggest we strike some kind of deal."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Tiffany said.

"You want some information and I want something from you," he said.

"Didn't you say there were dozens of candidates who could provide you with that sort of thing?" she said.

"Yes, but as you know well, men like to chase what's more elusive."

"How elusive am I? I came to your doorstep."

"True, but you're not as eager as some of the other denizens of that room have been."

Sean was getting bad vibes off the monitor. "I wish I could hear what you're saying," he said to himself.

"How can I be sure you'll hold up your end of the bargain, so to speak," Tiffany continued.

"I can dole out information in segments," he said.

"Very romantic," she said.

"You have any better ideas? I don't think you're going to wait until we're ... done. And I'm certainly not telling you the story without something in return. So, as they say on American television, deal or no deal?"

"Deal."

Sean caught that word. "You can't make a deal with the devil, honey," he said.

He liked the next thing that happened even less. Sasha pulled Tiffany in close and kissed her. He could tell that his wife wasn't enjoying herself, but she wasn't exactly pulling away either.

"Mmmmm, nice for starters," Sasha said.

"So...?"

"You already know that I was in Port Charles the day your husband disappeared, I surmise," he said.

"Yes, I do."

"I called him. At the penthouse. Told him to meet me at the docks. Threatened you and your daughter if he didn't."

Tiffany's eyes narrowed. Sasha's smile deepened. So did Sean's frown.

Back at the penthouse, Maren was pacing. Royce and Ellie were watching her.

"What am I supposed to be doing here?"

"Just going about your daily business, I guess," Royce said.

"I don't have any business, unless it's mourning over Dad or worrying about Mom," Maren said.

"What about your book, 'Sense and Sensibility' was it?" Ellie asked

"'Pride and Prejudice,' Maren responded. "And I don't really feel much like reading about Mr. Darcy right now."

Royce looked away, then got up. "OK, if I use your office to make a few calls, Ellie?"

"Of course, Mr. Stanton."

"Uh, uh, uh," he chided.

"Royce," she corrected.

"Right," he said and exited, looking back at Maren before he went.

"Please don't say you know how hard all this has been on me, Ellie," Maren said.

"OK, I won't say it. I'll just think it."

Maren laughed in spite of herself. "How about we make some food for Uncle Robert and what's-his-name?"

"Sounds like a plan."

The women exited in the direction of the kitchen.


	40. Chapter 40

The next morning, Sasha was waiting for Tiffany in the living room, a breakfast feast laid out on the long table off to the side. A freshly showered Tiffany entered the room, looking refreshed and summery in a light flowing dress with her hair still wet and curls framing her face.

"Good morning," Sasha offered.

"Morning."

"Don't you look lovely?"

"Thank you."

"Find everything you needed in the bathroom?"

"You should know."

"What's that mean?"

"Camera in the bathroom, right? Did you enjoy the show?" she said with a very light tinge of disgust.

"Very much so," Sasha admitted. "You're very beautiful."

"Again, your other women don't mind this? They don't seem to have much self-respect."

"We all play games, right?" Sasha said and Tiffany fought the urge to react to that. "I mean, even you played some with your husband, right?"

"I think your idea of games might differ slightly from mine."

"Come on, you were married a long time. You can't tell me you didn't do things to try and spice things up a bit."

Tiffany turned away from him so she could have a moment to think about Sean. How her heart would beat faster when he just looked at her a certain way.

From his room, Sean noted her look. He knew she was thinking of him, even though he didn't know the gist of her conversation with Popovic.

"We didn't have to play games," she said, turning back to Sasha.

"Still in love after all these years?" he asked. She didn't answer. "Of course I know the answer to that already, after all, you are here, trying to hold onto some little shred of him. I haven't seen that kind of devotion too often."

I'm not surprised, Tiffany thought to herself. You're not capable of that kind of feeling. Then she silently urged herself to get back on track.

"He was very important to me and, yes, so important that I want to know everything ... even about the last minutes of his life," she said.

"And I promised I'd tell you as part of our deal," he said, brushing the side of her jaw with his finger. "But I hate to barter on an empty stomach, so please, come enjoy some of this food. All kinds of fresh fruit, there has to be something you'd enjoy."

Well, I have to keep my strength up, Tiffany thought to herself and she crossed to the table and fixed herself a plate. Sean's stomach growled uncontrollably at the site of the spread, while the rest of him continued to be bothered at what he was watching and the fact that Popovic wanted him to see every moment of it.

After they ate, Sasha excused himself and headed for the stone building. He unlocked the door, brought in a new monitor and placed the other one outside. Sean avoided making eye contact with him.

"Was afraid your battery was running low, and I didn't want you to miss the evening's festivities. I think this is going to be a banner night," Sasha said.

"Why do you have to bring her into this?"

"I didn't. She brought herself. I think she's a little single-minded when it comes to you. For the life of me, I can't figure that one out. I have to say I haven't been very impressed since you've been a guest here."

"I will do anything you say if you leave her out of this," Sean said.

"I can't say I wasn't expecting that kind of line out of you, Donely. So I'll respond with my own obvious comment - you have nothing to bargain with."

"Really? I guess you don't know too much about my background. See I kind of toiled outside of the law for years before I joined the World Security Bureau. Gun running, intimidation ... tactics that would be right up your alley."

"Interesting," Sasha said. "Didn't know you had it in you."

"I do. And you may think you're nice and cozy here on this little island paradise, but I think you've sort of backed yourself into a corner. Where are you going to go from here? The limited funds you have will disappear, and then so will the mindless henchmen and women who parade on through."

"Your concern is touching," sasha said.

"I am not concerned about you. Like I said, I would be just be making this deal on behalf of my wife."

"Sorry, I already have a deal in the works. And right now, it's a lot more appealing to me than yours."

Sean's steely facade unintentionally gave way to worry.

"While I can't, for the life of me, see what she sees in you, I have to say I definitely know what you see in her," Sasha said. "I mean besides the obvious things... I can't say I've ever met a women like her. To which you'd probably say, if you weren't trying to avoid prodding me on further, that I probably don't move in the kind of circles in which I could meet someone like her."

Actually what I would have said is: No. 1, there is no other woman like my wife and No. 2, no woman worth her salt would give you the time of day, you smug, greasy-haired, faux gigolo, Sean thought to himself.

"Well, I have to be going," Sasha said, getting up and walking to the door. He reached outside, picked up a tray with rice and water and slid it across the floor to Sean. "Like I said, it's going to be a big night. I think we're all going to need our energy."

He stepped out and locked the door. Sean made his way over to the food, upset that he was so hungry that he needed to pounce on it, let alone the fact that he couldn't get through to the psychopath.


	41. Chapter 41

Tiffany looked herself over in the mirror as she prepared for dinner. Her resolve was on shaky ground as she thought about making herself attractive for the man she hated more than anyone in the world. Ninety-nine percent of her was sure that he knew where Sean was, but the one percent was starting to nag at her.

Knowing she was being watched, she continued to get ready, but inside the questions were popping into her head fast and furiously and few of them had answers. How far am I actually prepared to go to get information from this guy? Should I just signal the WSB and be done with it?

No, she thought. You came out here for one reason. To get answers about Sean. You knew it was going to be rough, but you can't go back to Port Charles and your daughter without finding out what he knows. Remember how you felt before this started ... that's how it will be again if you don't get any answers. And this is the only way to get them.

Sasha knocked on the door and opened it before waiting for her response.

"You decent?" Then upon seeing her fully dressed, "That's too bad. Although you do look magnificent. I knew that dress would look amazing on you."

Tiffany forced a smile as he continued. "Funny thing about this dress. I bought it in Paris, never knowing when it would be worn. Just that it would be on some special night."

Do these lines actually work on women? Tiffany thought to herself.

"Shall we go downstairs?" Sasha said.

"I thought we might do a little trading first," Tiffany interrupted.

"Sort of an appetizer, if you will?" he responded.

"Call it what you will. We haven't progressed very far in our deal."

"A woman who keep the game moving along at a decent pace, I like it," Sasha said. "Since you're intent on moving your pawn, continue..."

She readied herself and closed the gap between them. In his room, Sean twitched involuntarily. "Tiffany, don't. Please, baby, stay away from him."

Tiffany could almost hear Sean's voice in her head telling her not to. But she had to ignore it. She slipped her hands through Sasha's arms and slowly ran her fingers down his back.

"No, baby," Sean said.

Sasha was beginning to enjoy himself, probably more so since he knew he was being watched by the man that it would torture far worse than anything he could physically do to him. Tiffany wrapped her arms around him and molded her body to his, her hands drifting down his backside.

Starting to lose control a little, Sasha pulled back slightly and looked into her determined eyes. "You are good, lady," he said.

"You have no idea," she said and she pulled him into a kiss. He responded totally and now his hands were roaming as well.

"No! No! No!" Sean said and he pushed the monitor over in anger. The picture disappeared. He scrambled to stand it back up and try to get it working again.

Tiffany slowly drew away from the kiss, careful not to be too abrupt about it. "Before we go too much further, I think it's your turn."

"I suppose it is," Sasha said.

"You threatened Sean and got him to the docks and then what?"

Back in his room, Sean was having no luck with the broken monitor. His anger started to take over and he started kicking it, then threw the shell against the stone door. "Oh God, baby, please stay away from him."

"He dutifully showed up soon after," Sasha said. "Threw around some threats about leaving you and your daughter alone. The kind of baseless ultimatums that people without any recourse often do."

"They wouldn't have been baseless. If you touched us while he was alive, he would have hunted you done and taken care of you his own way no matter what it cost him, believe that."

"Did you two rehearse those lines in your bedroom every night? That's pretty much exactly what he said," Sasha chided.

"I just knew my husband," she said. "And then?"

"And then I shot the man," Sasha said, not lying but not exactly telling the whole truth either. "Three, four, five times. I couldn't stop pulling the trigger."

Tiffany couldn't keep the tears from welling in her eyes.

"You really slay me, lady," Sasha said, brushing one that was rolling down her cheek away.

I wish I could, Tiffany thought.

The intercom in the bedroom buzzed, breaking the tension in the air. Sasha crossed over to it and pushed it.

"What is it?" he said irritatedly.

"Sir, we have a situation that requires your immediate attention."

"Can't it wait?"

"Uh, no. It's about your special guest."

"I'll be right there." Sasha turned back to Tiffany. "I'm sorry, my lovely, I thought we were really getting somewhere for a minute there. Hopefully we can pick up where we left off when I get back." He pressed his lips against hers before departing.

Tiffany's mind was racing. What was the emergency? Was it about her? Was it about Sean? She went into the closet after her shoes, closing the door behind her. She fumbled a little with the heel, but finally got it to pop open and reveal the microchip. She pressed it and heard a little pop that indicated activation. She caressed the locket around her neck, opened it, retrieved the second chip from behind Sean's picture and clicked that one too.

Then she slipped out of the closet. "Looks like your last chance, Tiff, before the unthinkable happens. Might as well take it." She tucked both chips into the belt around her dress and exited the room with plans of heading to the part of the island that Sasha had previously avoided taking her to.


	42. Chapter 42

Sasha burst into the stone building and stormed into the back room.

"This better be good," he said.

"He went nuts on the monitor," the control board operator said. "Want me to replay it for you?"

"No, I think I know the how and why. What's he doing now?"

"Think he wore himself out. He's sitting in the corner."

"Good, that'll make this easier." He started to leave and then turned back. "What's going on at the house?

"I don't know where she is, she's not in the bedroom anymore. Scanned all the rooms, nothing. She might be there, just out of view of the cameras, I just haven't seen her yet. Will keep looking, sir."

"She's not there," Sasha muttered as he started for the doorway again. "These two, they just keep making me change the gameplan."

He descended the stairs and unlocked the door. Walking in, he stepped on bits of the monitor.

"Didn't like the entertainment? Well, I guess you couldn't just change the channel, but I have to admit I'm a little surprised you went this far. I guess we'll have to charge the battery in the other one so you can see how the cliffhanger resolves itself."

Sasha picked the big pieces of monitor up and put them outside the door, then kicked littler bits of debris out with his shoe.

"Damn, your wife can kiss, man," he said. "Looks like she'll do just about anything to find out what happened to your sorry ass. And I mean anything."

Sean glared at him wordlessly.

"If you'll excuse me for a minute, I need to finish cleaning up after you," Sasha said, closing the door behind him and picking up the biggest piece of monitor. Sean could hear him trudging up the stairs with it.

Outside, Tiffany could see Sasha's shadow making his way to the back room. She slowly opened the door and stepped inside. She could hear voices coming from the room, so she moved swiftly to and down the back stairway.

In the darkness, she tripped over some of the pieces of the monitor by the door. She fell to the cold, hard ground and stifled a cry of pain caused by a shard that broke the skin on her hand.

"Right on cue," Sasha said, watching his perch upstairs.

Tiffany stood back up, adjusting herself and her belt and brushing some blood off on her dress. Her hand shook as she reached for the door, expecting it to be locked. But it started to open and her heart jumped into her throat as she entered the room.

She couldn't clearly see the figure slouched in the corner, but her senses knew who it was.

"Sean?" she said in a faint voice, barely believing it.

In the corner, Sean heard his name as though someone had whispered it in his ear. But it wasn't the first time that he had thought he heard Tiffany's voice speaking to him since he had been put into this dungeon, so he didn't move a muscle.

Tiffany hadn't exhaled since she stepped in the room and she finally let her breath out in a couple short, punctuated outbursts. "Sean?" she said a little louder.

This time, he did look up and over at her. She convulsed with total emotion when he got up and rushed into her arms. "I knew it ... I knew it ... I knew it," she said as she clung to him as tightly as she could. "I knew it."

They held fast to each other as the emotion overwhelmed both of them. She pulled her head back to kiss him.

Sean stepped back, but kept a hold of her. "I'm a mess. I haven't showered or anything."

"I don't care, I don't care," Tiffany said, kissing him on the mouth again and again. "Hold on to me. Don't let go."

She was trembling in his arms. "I wasn't just imagining things," she said. "I knew it wasn't you. I knew you weren't gone."

"Oh baby," was all Sean could manage.

Clapping outside the door broke the moment. Sasha pulled it open and greeted his prisoners.

"That was very dramatic, I have to admit," he said.

Tiffany's blood started to boil. Sean softly rubbed her back to try to alleviate her shaking.

"You son of a bitch!" she yelled and she was out of his grasp and attacking Sasha before the weary Sean could do anything about it. She got in one good slap before Sasha threw her to the ground. Sean knelt over her to comfort her and helped Tiffany back to her feet.

"I think you better tell your wife the way it works around here," Sasha said to Sean. "I do the knocking around."

"Guess our little deal's over?" he added to Tiffany.

"You weren't telling the truth anyway," she retorted.

"I told the truth, I just left out a little portion of the story," Sasha said. "Everything I told you about the phone call was true, your husband's threat to me ... but I actually had him clobbered from behind on the docks.

"Now you might have noticed that I disappeared for quite a while, that's because I was working on the big plan. It was a beauty. It took me some time to find someone who could pass for Sean, even with the kind of extensive surgery we gave him. But I did and it worked, because all of you thought the man was dead.

"By the way, Tiff ... you sure it's really him this time?"

Tiffany regarded her husband. "Look at me," she said with gentle firmness.

Sean looked into her eyes, and 10 seconds later, she responded, "It's him."

"Anyway, the part about shooting the Sean-alike was all true. We brought him to the penthouse, gave him Sean's key to get in ... actually we had to put it in the door and turn the knob since he was kind of under the weather ... and the rest is history," Sasha continued. "I don't suppose we get to have sex now? You know, quid pro quo, that kind of thing?"

Now Sean's ire was raised. "Well I better get out of here, because he might land more than one little slap," Sasha said, tipping a non-existent cap toward them before leaving. From outside, he mocked, "This time I think I'll lock the door!"

Sean pulled Tiffany back into his arms and she sobbed, more with relief than in fear.


	43. Chapter 43

Sean and Tiffany were still in each other arms hours later, now sitting on the floor. She turned to give him a full hug and put her lips right by his ear.

"Camera?" she whispered.

"Two," he whispered back. "Above the door and the wall behind you."

Tiffany thought for a moment, then readjusted herself so that she was blocking both from view of her belt.

"I love you," she said to him.

"I love you, baby," he replied and kissed her.

She pulled back a little, keeping one arm around him in embrace and using the other hand to turn down her belt halfway. She guided Sean's hand to one of the microchips she had put there earlier. He nodded at her knowingly.

"I had to come after you," she said, starting a conversation for the benefit of the cameras.

"You shouldn't have done that," Sean said, following her lead.

"I wasn't even sure he had you. I wasn't sure I wasn't just wishing that you were still alive," she said, and slowly guided his hand across the belt to the broken shard of monitor that had cut her earlier.

"You still should have stayed with Maren," he said.

Tiffany's concentration was broken by thoughts of their daughter, but she kept the dialogue going. "She was so devastated, Sean. She was there when you ... when that man died. And I couldn't exactly tell her that I was going out looking for you in case I was wrong."

"That's what was bothering me most while I was in there. I had no idea what you and Maren were going through. I didn't know what you were thinking or doing," Sean admitted.

Upstairs, Sasha entered the control room. "What's been going on?"

"Not much. A lot of kissyface and mushy love talk," the guy said.

"Have you no romance in your soul?" Sasha chided.

The red phone in the control room rang. Sasha snatched it up.

"What is it?"

"Boats approaching the beach, sir."

"Boats, plural?"

"Yes, sir. They look official."

"Get everyone together at 'The Doria' at the secret launch site."

Sasha slammed the phone down. "Good thing I have quality hostages." He gestured to the control room operator. "Get to the boat." The henchman quickly moved out. Sasha took his time walking down the stairs, swinging his key and whistling while he did. He slowly turned the key in the door and opened it, Sean and Tiffany rose to their feet.

"Looks like we have company," he said.

On the beach, Mattison was reiterating final instructions to the agents from his and other world organizations.

"We have a probable hostage situation involving someone who has been instrumental to this operation, so I want the utmost caution exercised in apprehending Popovic," he said.

One of the officers brought a piece of paper over to him. "According to the air reconnaissance, he's probably in one of two places. There's a main house in that direction and some kind of stone building in the other. I would imagine he's been alerted to our presence and is fortifying himself in the latter, but I want them both searched thoroughly."

Sasha paced back and forth in the basement of the stone house, punctuating his words with flourishes of the gun in his hand.

"I can only assume they're here because of you," he said, pointing it in Tiffany's general direction. Sean stepped to her side and slightly in front of her. Sasha smirked.

"Both of you with one bullet, that would save time and money," he said.

"You should have taken me up on my offer while you could, Popovic," Sean said.

"Perhaps in retrospect, disappearing off the international landscape might have been in a good option, but could you resist the chance to sleep with your wife?" Sasha retorted. "I did enjoy our little game while it lasted."

Tiffany tightened her grip around her husband's waist.

"And it's not quite over yet. I mean, if Donely accidentally dies ... again ... and I escape with you, well, the fun might be just beginning."

Sean knew it wasn't the right time to beat the daylights out of Popovic, but he was starting to relish the thought of the opportunity.

"Then again, I am starting to get real sick of both of you," Sasha said.

The feeling is very mutual, the Donelys both thought at the same time.

A commotion was heard from above and the WSB announced their presence and intention on entering the building.

"Here we go," Sasha said.

An explosion rocked the house as the WSB used explosives to open the door.

"That was a perfectly good door," Sasha quipped. "Do you know how much it costs to have that made? You can't exactly waltz into a home improvement store and order one."

"This is the World Security Bureau. By decree of the United Nations, we order you to come out with your hands up."

Sasha shook his head. Tiffany readjusted her position in Sean's arms so she could cling tighter. "It's OK, baby," he assured her.

"That's right, baby," Sasha added.

Boots pounded on the stairs coming down to the room they were in. Sasha stepped behind the Donelys, holding his gun out of Sean's reach and on his wife.

"Come out with your hands up!" came the order as officers appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry, can't do that," Sasha said. "And the fact that I have these hostages backs that up. So here's the new plan. Take your bright, shiny uniforms on out of here and send in someone I can talk to in authority. Or these two die before you get one foot in this room."

"Are you all right, sir?" one of them asked Sean. He nodded and they exited.

"That went about as expected," Sasha said.

"I don't know how far you think you're going to get with this ill-conceived plan," Sean said. "You hurt us and they're not going to think twice about taking you out."

"I realize that. But I think the two of you are more of a bargaining chip than you know, Donely."


	44. Chapter 44

Minutes later, Mattison made his way into the building and down the stairs.

"Mattison... W-S-..." he stopped at seeing Sean alive.

"I don't believe it," he said.

"Believe it," Popovic said. He stepped out from behind the Donelys and went over to search him. Behind him, Sean signaled to Tiffany to remove the piece of glass from her belt.

"Hello, Mattison."

"Donely, glad to see you alive. Mrs. Donely, you all right?" Tiffany nodded grimly.

"OK, so I'll tell you what's going to happen now, Mr. WSB. I've got two blue-chip hostages here. And I think they're going to ensure my safe passage on out of here."

Sean looked at Tiffany, asking her with his eyes if she was going to be able to do it.

"Now?" she mouthed silently.

He nodded subtlely. She took a deep breath, using that time to think of all the pain and suffering the man had caused her husband and daughter and charged at him full throttle.

Sean moved up with her, his eyes trained on Popovic's gun hand. The shard sliced into Sasha's back and he yelped and pulled the trigger of his gun once before Sean wrestled it out of his hand. He kicked Sasha in the gut and he fell to the ground in a heap, clutching his back as the blood oozed out of the wound.

Mattison yelled up the stairs for backup and agents swarmed the building. Sean picked up the gun and walked up to Popovic.

"Go ahead and do it," Sasha said. "I know you're dying to."

Tiffany took a deep breath and watched her husband.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Sean said. "Wouldn't have to face all the families and friends of the people you've hurt. Sorry, not letting you off that easy. This place was a field day for me compared to what's going to happen to you, Popovic."

He handed the gun to Mattison and pulled his wife into his arms.

"Get him out of here," Mattison said to his officers.

Two of the WSB agents grabbed Sasha roughly under each arm."Hey, careful. Injured man here. Isn't that against the Geneva Convention or something?" He turned back to the Donelys at the doorway. "You'll wonder about me someday, sweetheart."

"Wonder why I didn't kill you myself, maybe," Tiffany said, drawing Sean closer to her.

Mattison crossed over and offered his hand to Sean. "Like I said, glad to see you alive." Sean kept one hand tightly around his wife and shook it with his other.

"Best way of ending a hostage situation is defusing it before it can really get started," Mattison said.

"I think I read that somewhere," Sean said.

"Good work, Agent Donely," Mattison continued.

"Thanks," Sean said.

"Sorry, Sean, I meant your wife."

"She was truly wonderful," Sean seconded.

"I wasn't sure I could do it until I thought for a second about everything he put us through." Her emotions started to bubble to the surface and the tears started to flow. Sean cradled her head onto his shoulder.

"Come on, let's get out of here. We have a nice state room on the boat where you two can get some much-needed rest. We'll do debriefing on the plane back to the States."

"Isn't that against the rules, Mattison?" Sean teased.

"Please, I just sent a former agent's wife in to help apprehend one of the most wanted men in the world," he said. "By the book doesn't seem to be in my vocabulary on this case."

Mattison headed out and Sean looked back at the place he had been forced to live in for however long it was, he wasn't even sure. He ran his hand across his wife's cheek and kissed her and they walked out together.

A couple of hours later, Sean emerged from the bathroom on the boat, showered and shaved, dressed in a gauzy white shirt and white pants and feeling like a new man. Tiffany was lying on the bed, not asleep but not entirely awake either.

"What do you think?" Sean said.

"As devastatingly handsome as ever," she said truthfully.

"Thank you, darling," he said as he nestled in behind Tiffany and pulled her to his chest.

"I can't believe it's over," she said. "I mean, a couple of hours ago, I didn't know if we were going to see Maren again and now we're here. I feel like I'm dreaming or something."

"It definitely seems surreal," Sean said. "It's all because of you too. We could have been anywhere right now."

"Or nowhere right now," she said tightly.

"But we're here right now," Sean replied disarmingly. "And I've got my wife in my arms and we're headed back to our daughter and family and friends."

Tiffany smiled, a thought crossing her mind.

"What is it?" Sean said, recognizing the look on her face.

"Just reminded me of something I thought about a lot while you were ... gone," she said.

"Want to share with the class?"

"You sort of think in those moments you would be remembering all the big things, you know? The (Tiffany rolled her eyes) wedding ... Maren's birth ... the first time you told me you loved me, but the thing I kept thinking about was something really small."

He waited for her continue. "And I was thinking about how the best part of the day for me was always those 30 seconds after I woke up every morning. I'd be in your arms and just feel really contented and happy."

"But just for 30 seconds?"

"Well, then the phone would invariably ring for one reason or another, and the day would officially begin."

He smiled at his wife and kissed her. They dramatically waited for a phone to ring. "Nope, no phone." He pulled her closer to him for a deeper kiss.


	45. Chapter 45

Maren came bounding down the stairs of the penthouse excitedly, pulling Robert and Royce's attention away from the paperwork they had been perusing.

"Turn on the TV! Turn on the TV!"

"What is it?" Royce said.

"It's Popovic. They got him!" she exclaimed.

Robert flipped on the set, and the station it was set to was delivering that very news.

"Details are sketchy right now, but we can confirm that international terrorist Sasha Popovic is in World Security Bureau custody. Popovic was reportedly arrested on a private island in the Caribbean after a special session of the United Nations was apparently called to address his whereabouts. Popovic was the alleged ring leader of the group that took hostages at a Boston bank several months ago, but who lost his status with the international renegade faction he had been trying to secure important defense documents for during that crisis."

Ellie appeared from the office. "What's going on?"

"That Popovic guy is toast!" Maren exclaimed. "I wish Mom was here to see this."

The phone rang. "I'll get it," Ellie said. "Donely residence. ... Yes, yes, sir, he's right here. Mr. Scorpio? It's Mr. Mattison from the WSB."

"Yeah, Mattison?" Robert said. "We just saw, great news. What happened? ... Yeah, but I'd like to know ... She is? OK, yeah, I guess we can wait a couple hours. You're coming here yourself? Oh, you're sending another agent. OK. We'll be here." He hung up the phone.

"Looks like we got more good news," he said. "Your Mom is going to be here to see this, Maren."

Maren jumped up and hugged her uncle. "I can't believe this. Please tell me, I'm not dreaming."

"If you're dreaming, we're all having the same one," Royce said. "How did they find Mrs. Donely?"

"He didn't say," Robert said. "Very cryptic, he said he was sending someone over to give us all the details."

"That's kind of strange," Royce said.

"My boy, I've learned when it comes to the WSB, there's no such word as strange."

"You may be right," Royce said.

The quartet turned their attention back to the television, flipping channels whenever the coverage shifted to another story or to commercial.

A couple hours later, they had seen all the footage a couple of times over. There were no new details, or details at all, on any of the channels. A knock at the door raised the energy level in the room considerably.

"I'll get it," Maren said, bouncing up.

"Uh, no," Robert said. "I'll get it, luv."

He opened the door to Tiffany. "Forgot my key," she quipped as Robert pulled her into the apartment.

"Mom!" Maren exclaimed and rushed into her arms. "I'm so glad to see you."

"Baby, I'm glad to see you too. So much to tell you. All of you."

"Where have you been?"

She exhaled deeply. "Where have I been? To hell and back, I think. But before I get into that... there's someone with me who would really like to see you."

"Who?" Maren asked, not fathoming who it could be.

Tiffany crossed back to the door and opened it. Sean sauntered in to everyone's complete shock. "Hi, baby girl," he said to his daughter.

"Ohmigod, Daddy," she said, her eyes filling with tears. She jumped into his arms. "I don't believe it. Is it really you?"

"It's me, all right," he said.

"Sean? How?" Robert managed.

"It's a very long story, but sufficeth to say, it wasn't me all of you saw die," he said.

"You look really tired, Daddy," Maren said. "Come sit down." She pulled him to the couch, hugged her mother tightly as Sean took a seat and then jumped into his lap.

"You were right?" Robert said to Tiffany.

"Does happen on occasion," she said, winking at him.

"This has to do with Popovic, doesn't it?" Royce asked.

"Give that man a cigar," Sean said. "Yes, it does. And about how my wife rescued me and helped capture him."

"Mom?" Maren said incredulously.

"I guess I've learned a thing or two about instincts being around your father for so many years," Tiffany said, sitting down next to Sean and starting to smooth Maren's hair.

"So I'm assuming he kidnapped you on the docks and put this decoy in your place," Robert said.

"Right, old buddy," Sean said. "He had him surgically altered to look like me and then pumped him full of lead."

"Dad, he really really looked like you," Maren said, recalling the image.

"That's what I hear."

"He took you away for what purpose?" Royce asked.

"Beyond revenge, I don't think he even knew, Stanton. He certainly wasn't prepared when push came to shove. He was so focused on exacting what revenge he thought this family was due, that he didn't really have much of a plan beyond sticking me in a basement and leaving me there in perpetuity. I think he would have been pretty contented to live on his island with me as his prisoner for quite a while."

"Oh Daddy, it must have been awful," Maren wailed.

"What was awful was not knowing what was going on with you, sweetheart," he said gently. "All I could think about was you and your mother and what you were going through."

"That was pretty awful too," she said and she leaned into his arms for a big bear hug. "How did Mom find you?"

"Honey, you want to take over?" Sean asked.

"I'm not really sure what to say. I just started getting this feeling that something was wrong. And I knew from Robert that Popovic was the one responsible from what happened. So I decided to pay him a little visit."

"A social call ... on a madman," Robert said.

"I don't want to get too much into that now," she said, gesturing to Maren, who had buried her head in her dad's chest. "But this had all been arranged with Mattison, so I signaled him when it started getting rough."

"When did you find Dad?" Maren said muffledly from Sean's chest.

"Soon after that. But I got caught and we were both prisoner until the WSB showed up."

"This is the best part," Sean said. "Your mom stabbed Popovic with a piece of glass I had broken earlier that day."

"All right, Mom," Maren said, picking her head up.

"That must have felt good," Robert said.

"Actually it was kind of unsettling. But believe me, I was happy to have done it. ... And your dad got the gun away from Sasha and it was over."

"He's got a lot of people to answer to now," Royce said.

"Looking forward to every minute of that," Sean said, pulling both his girls to him.


	46. Chapter 46

The next morning, Tiffany awoke in Sean's arms. She sighed contentedly and he pulled her reflexively toward him as he woke up himself.

"Favorite part of the day," he recalled.

"Absolutely," she said as he bent his head to kiss her.

The phone rang before they pulled away and husband and wife chuckled.

Sean reached over and picked up the phone.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Morning," Robert said. "Glad to hear you're still alive and well."

"Thanks, old buddy."

"I'm guessing you haven't seen the news yet."

"No, I haven't."

"Popovic took the coward's way out."

"He killed himself?"

"Yep, in his jail cell. Bed sheet hanging."

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Sure. We'll do lunch," Robert said as they hung up.

"He's dead?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, honey."

"Doesn't seem like enough, but he certainly saved the courts a lot of time and trouble."

"Yeah. Look, honey, do you mind if I take a little walk on my own this morning?"

"I kind of don't want to let you go right now, but I understand."

"I'm never letting you go," he said, pulling into a kiss.

A couple of hours later, Tiffany was sitting at the dining room table eating breakfast with Maren.

"Is Dad OK, Mom?"

"What do you mean, honey?"

"He just didn't seem like his old self this morning," Maren said.

"He's just been through a lot. I can't imagine what it was like for him for weeks on end to be stuck in that cold, dark basement."

"He said he was going for a walk, but he wouldn't let me go with him," Maren said.

"I know you're disappointed, sweetheart. I understand, I kind of want to spend every minute with him right now too. I think it's good though, he's out and about and getting some fresh air and sunshine. It'll clear his head a little."

"I guess you're right. I just wish he told us where he was going."

Maren's last sentence resonated with Tiffany. "Hon, I'm going to go run a few errands, see a few people who called last night. You be OK here by yourself?"

"Since when am I ever here by myself? There's always a steady stream of worrywarts near by."

"You're a trouper," she said, kissing the top of her head as she walked out of the room.

Tiffany grabbed her purse and hurried out the door, convinced that she knew where Sean had gone.

A half-hour later, she was at the cemetery where they had buried the man they thought was her husband. And sure enough, Sean was standing there staring at the headstone baring his own name.

"Thought you might be here," she said softly.

"Your instincts really have gotten finely honed," he said, attempting humor but not quite getting there.

The mortician and one of his workers arrived at the plot. "I was told you wanted to see me, Mr. Donely. We were planning to take this headstone down right away."

Sean nodded. "Actually I wanted you to exhume this body."

"Sir?" the mortician asked.

"I want to see the body. You can get clearance from the WSB on it, I'm sure."

"Sean," Tiffany said, concerned. "No."

"Honey, I need to."

"No, you don't. It's not going to help you."

The mortician and his employee stepped to the side to give them some privacy. The worker started to unearth the headstone.

"You don't understand. Everyone thought this was me. I have to see why that was the case."

"Sean, Popovic had him altered to look exactly like you. Not just weight, hair, coloring. The bullet wounds ... everything. He turned him into you to fool us."

"It's all I can think about right now."

"I understand that, I do. But this man, no one will ever know who he is. He needs to have some peace. He has to be allowed to rest in peace."

Sean mulled that over. "But what about his family? He's probably got family somewhere wondering what happened to him. If we can identify him..."

"They can't, honey," she said. "There were no scars from the surgery, absolutely nothing that indicated that he wasn't..."

"Me."

"Please don't disturb this grave. It won't help him and I know it won't help you."

"OK," Sean said, still turning things over in his head. The sound of the headstone hitting the ground caught his attention. He turned and looked at it: Sean Donely, beloved husband and father...

"Let's go," he said, and Tiffany wrapped her arm around his as they walked off.

Sean was still quiet as he and Tiffany arrived at the penthouse. Ellie came out from the office and smiled when she saw him.

"Hi, boss," she said.

"Hi, Ellie."

"I didn't get to say this last night. ... I am so happy you're back."

"Thanks. I am too."

"Would it be OK if I gave you a little hug?"

Sean softened. "Of course, you're my favorite employee."

She hugged him. "Aren't I your only employee?"

"Details. Should I ask what's been going on in the inner sanctum there?"

"We don't have to get into that right now," Ellie said.

"No, it's fine, really. Any calls?"

"Mattison's called a few times, I think he wants to wrap up a couple details about the case."

"Fine, I'll call him in a little while."

"I'll be in the office if you need anything."

"Thanks, Ellie," he said.

"So what should we do with our day?" Tiffany asked.

"Not really sure. I have to admit I feel a little discombobulated."

"We could go to General Hospital. Maybe you need to talk to someone. You know, to get more combobulated."

Sean smiled in spite of himself. "I don't think that's necessary. I'm not feeling that bad."

Tiffany wasn't quite buying it, but she decided to change the subject. "Well, I'm sure this is going to come up sooner or later. We probably need to start thinking about Maren's birthday. Sweet 16, I'm sure she's going to want a party."

"Oh Lord, our daughter's going to be 16."

"I know. It hardly seems like it's been 16 years."

"I remember carrying her around in my arms like it was yesterday," Sean said and those memories started to outweigh his more recent ones.


	47. Chapter 47

A month later, they were celebrating Maren's birthday in high style. Or as high style as Kelly's would afford, as Maren got it into her head that she wanted her party there and neither of her parents were able to talk her out of it. So the down-home eatery boasted some high fashion and a rock band for the occasion. It seemed like everyone in Port Charles was already there when the Donelys made their grand entrance, Tiffany in a deep blue sequined gown, Sean in an off-white tuxedo and the belle of the ball looking like a proverbial princess in a white taffeta gown.

Sean choked back some tears as he led her down the stairs to the center of the room. "I know it's not so cool to hang with your dad, but may I have the first dance?" he said.

"Of course, Dad," she replied. "And I happen to think it's very cool to hang with my ol' dad."

"Thanks honey, I needed that," he said. She winked back at him.

Tiffany was having a hard time keeping her emotions under wraps herself as she watched them together. And so was someone else. Royce Stanton had been in the corner of the room wondering why he was wearing a black tux at a place like Kelly's when the Donelys arrived. When Sean helped Maren take her wrap off, he couldn't take his eyes off the vision.

"She's 16, buddy, just keep it together," he said under his breath. But he was still having a very strong reaction to her.

"She looks beautiful, doesn't she?" Ellie said as she took note of him noticing Maren. "That girl, in terms of smarts and maturity, she's always been 14 going on 30. Now she's actually starting to look it."

Royce figured saying nothing would be better than putting his foot in his mouth, so he just nodded. Ellie smiled secretly as Tiffany walked by.

"Mrs. Donely, thanks for inviting me," Ellie said.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ellie," Tiffany responded. "You're a very important part of the family, especially to Maren. She cares about you very much."

"She's really growing up," Ellie said, watching Sean dip his daughter. "It's amazing. I remember her running around with stuffed animals and now she just looks like she's ready to have a family of her own."

Royce and Tiffany quickly turned high-powered gazes on her. "Oh please, bite your tongue," Tiffany said. "I am so not ready for that yet."

Over on the makeshift dance floor, Sean was gazing into his daughter's eyes. "Sixteen. Unbelievable. I remember when you were 16 minutes old like it happened yesterday," he said.

"Oh Daddy, really," Maren chided.

"I couldn't believe it when they put you in my arms," he continued. "You were so small and so warm. And alert. Like you came outta there ready to take on the world."

"Do I get that from you or Mom?" she asked.

"That must be your mother's influence," he said.

"Right, because Lord knows, you never rush right into something," Maren retorted. "Mom's told me the stories, Dad."

"Leave it to your mom to forsake all the ones in which I prudently weighed the pros and cons before diving into something," he said.

"You already told me BOTH of those stories like 200 times, Dad," she laughed.

"Very funny," he said. "Got your Mom's sense of humor too, I see."

"I got a lot of things from you too," she said genuinely.

"Big allowance … ability to negotiate everything from bed times to staying out late … anything else?"

"Mom said something to me before she went after you on that island that I won't ever forget," Maren said. "It was about how I listen to people the way you do, with my heart. It's probably about the nicest thing I've ever heard someone say about me."

"Probably the nicest thing ever said about me too," Sean said, looking over at his wife and winking.

"So about my present?" she said, leadingly.

"This party isn't enough for you?" he teased.

"Well, it would be, I suppose," she said disappointedly.

"If it was actually your present … which it's not," he added. "Just waiting for you to tell me what you want, angel."

"I suppose a car is out of the question," Maren said.

"I already taught you how to drive," Sean said.

"Yeah, but my Barbie Dream Van has been out of commission for some time, Dad."

"I'm not sure your mother will approve of you getting a car before you have a learner's permit," he said.

"We didn't even tell her that you showed me how to drive," she said.

"I'm not hiding a car from her, Maren." His daughter frowned at him. "I'll work on it, OK, honey?"

Her frown turned upside down more quickly than it appeared. "Thanks, Daddy!" She playfully jumped up in the air and he caught her there so she could kiss him on the cheek, just like she used to as a young girl. He kissed her on the head as he let her down and the song ended. Maren spun away from Sean and he ambled toward his wife with a guilty look on his face.

"Why do I feel like this isn't going to be such a good thing?" Tiffany said. "She wants a car to go with her hush-hush driving lessons?"

"Why do I even bother trying to get away with anything around the Donely women?" Sean said, pulling his wife into his arms and starting to dance with her despite the absence of music.

"I wish I knew," Tiffany said, brushing her lips across his neck.

The rock band started to jam away and the floor around them filled with Maren and her new friends. Sean pulled away from his wife long enough to look in her eyes, then took her hand and led her out of Kelly's and onto the pier.


	48. Chapter 48

Sean and Tiffany walk arm and arm around the docks. She snuggles against him as the breeze blows in from the water.

"Boy, this place just brings back a lot of memories for me," she said, thinking about when she first met Sean and the times they spent walking around the docks talking and getting to know each other.

Sean's got a far-off look in his eyes, though. He's not remembering those days. He's thinking about when Sasha Popovic lured him there under the guise of keeping his wife and daughter safe, which led to his capture and presumed death.

"It's funny, so many things have changed, but this place really has remained the same," she continued. He nods, not really paying attention to what she's saying.

He starts flashing back to the graveyard, seeing his name on the tombstone that someone else was buried under. "Beloved husband and father" it read.

"Maren wasn't even a glint in our eyes," Tiffany said. "Well, maybe she was a glint in mine. I knew I wanted you."

"Yeah," Sean said absently.

"She looks so beautiful, just like an angel," she said. "She's so grown up. When she came out of her room in that dress tonight, she didn't look like a little girl. She looked like a woman. Remember the first time you danced with her Sean, and she was on your feet? Those days are gone."

He finally hears what she's saying and shakes his other thoughts loose. "She's so much like you," he said. "Not just because she's gorgeous. She's so high-spirited and just open to everything there is in life. It's all out there for her, I just want it to stay that way."

"You're scared," she said, putting her finger on Sean's concern without specifically knowing that she was doing it.

"Maybe a little," he said. "There's not a lot we can control in this world. But I don't want to stifle her spirit to try and do that."

"This is the part we haven't wanted to think about. When she becomes a woman and shoots out of our orbit and into her own."

"I kind of liked it when we were in our little universe, I admit it."

"She's always going to need us, Sean."

"She's just going to want other things more than us."

"That's probably true. And not just a car."

"On the plus side, I will be looking forward to quality time with my wife." He finally notices she's cold, takes off his tuxedo jacket and puts it around her, then wraps his arms around it and her.

"That really never gets old," Tiffany said. He starts trailing kisses down her neck. "Or that."

Back in Kelly's, Maren saunters over to Royce. "May I have this dance?"

"Aren't I supposed to be the one who asks?"

"Mom always said I shouldn't wait on a guy, or I might be waiting a long time," she said disarmingly. "Yes? No?"

Royce thinks about it for a second, a little bit reticent about the possibility. But her eyes draw him in and he reaches for her hand. "Yes," he says. He leads her to the center of the floor and she closes the gap between them so he's forced to put his arm around her waist. She leans into his chest, he cradles her back against him.

"You think I look nice tonight?" she asks, tilting her head up so that she's whispering toward his ear. It's giving him chills.

"You know you do," he said, humoring her.

"You can still say it," she replied.

"You look very nice tonight," he said.

"So Mr. Stanton, can I ask you a question?"

"Why start asking permission now?"

"We've known each other for over a year. I don't think I've seen you with another woman in that time."

"We don't run in the same circles, Maren."

"That's not necessarily true. I've seen you around my dad and my uncle a lot. Semi-attractive guy like you shouldn't have trouble finding dates."

"I don't."

That hurts Maren more than she's willing to show. She pulls away from him, looks around the room and realizes she's not having as good a time as she had been a minute ago. She heads for the door.

Royce watches her go. "You know what she's doing, don't fall into that trap, Stanton," he said to himself.

Maren holds herself tightly as she walks on the docks. She stops when she sees her parents in each others' arms, leaning back so they don't spot her.

"Why don't I ever get tired of kissing you?" Tiffany said playfully when they finally pull away.

"I try not to question those things," Sean said.

"Good policy," she said. "Sixteen years ago today... what I wanted most for us. Still kind of seems like a dream come true."

"She was... is," he replied.

"Guess we should get back to her," Tiffany said, giving Sean his jacket back.

"Guess so," he said, then suggestively added, "We'll get back to the rest when we're home after the party, woman."

They chuckle as they meander off together and Maren comes out of hiding to go where they were just standing. She looks up at the stars, and wishes on one of them that she finds exactly what her parents have someday for herself.

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself," a voice said behind her. It's Royce, and now he's taking off his jacket and putting it over her like her father just did with her mother.

"I wasn't," she responded.

"I ... don't see anyone else out here," he said.

"You're out here," Maren replied quickly. "Why are you out here?"

"I thought I might have upset you somehow," Royce said.

"No," she said, holding his coat tighter against her and she stepped by him. "You were just telling it the way it is."

"The way it was maybe," he admitted.

"I don't understand," she said.

"The way it was - I used to have all the dates I wanted. I guess I really haven't been that social since I came to Port Charles."

"Why's that?" she asked, genuinely interested.

"Not sure," he said, berating himself for telling half-truths.

"You're interested in women, right?" she asked, turning back to him.

"Uh yes," he said.

"Interested in me?"

"I'm very interested in you. You're a friend and someone I don't want to see hurt in anyway."

"Not what I mean," Maren said, sidling up to him.

"Then what do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"You sure are fishing for a lot of compliments tonight, little girl," he said.

"I'm not a little girl ... as you no doubt have noticed," she said, throwing off his coat and moving closer to him.

He's noticed. Royce's temperature is rising by the second. Maren mistakes his silence for indifference and isn't quite sure what to do about it. She turns to go back to Kelly's, then whirls around and looks at him again, thoroughly confused. "Mom didn't tell me what to do if it didn't seem to be working," she mumbles to herself. "Or maybe she did."

She picks up Royce's coat and gives it back to him. As he puts it on, she slips her arms under it and pulls him to her. "Guy as smart as you are should know when a girl wants him to kiss her."

"I know," he said, the last vestiges of his resolve rapidly fading with her in his space. He runs his hand along her jawline and moves in to kiss her. She tries to respond the way she's seen her parents kissing, by nibbling on him softly. When he laughs at that, she backs away.

"I'm doing it wrong?" she asked.

"No," he said, his voice getting low and husky. "Just a little unexpected, that's all.

"Well show me how to do it then," she said so innocently and sweetly that, at that moment, he wanted to take in her arms and run off to some foreign country where no one - particularly her father - could find them.

"Sweet 16 and never been kissed," he mumbled, pulling her back toward him. "There was nothing wrong about that." He gathers her back in his arms and tilts his head to plant a long, lingering kiss on her. She melts into him, just intoxicated by it.


	49. Chapter 49

Back at Kelly's, a big birthday cake has been wheeled in for Maren. Only problem is, no one at the party can actually find her.

"She's not here," Sean said, his tension level rising rapidly.

"She's got to to be here somewhere," Tiffany replied. "Maybe she's just freshening up a little."

"No, something's wrong," he said, and it could have just as easily been talking about himself.

"Here she is," Ellie said, grabbing hold of Maren as soon as she walks back in the front door of Kelly's and pushing her toward the center of her room and her concerned parents.

"Sorry," Maren said weakly, starting to play with her hair.

Tiffany eyes her daughter suspiciously, looks at her husband - who doesn't seem to be taking any of it in - and decides to forego the interrogation session. She leads the assembled party in a chorus of "Happy Birthday," Sean joins in about halfway through. "Make a wish and blow out the candles," Tiff says after they've finished singing.

Maren thinks about the kiss and wishes for more of them in the future, takes a deep breath and blows out all 17 candles. The partygoers applaud sincerely.

"Let's get this sucker cut up," Tiff says, giving her daughter the knife for the first piece. After Maren cuts it, her mother scoops an oversized piece onto the plate and gives her a fork.

Ellie and Tiffany take over cake cutting duties, while Maren sits down with plate in hand and scoops some into her mouth. She barely tastes it, though. Royce has just walked back in and she can't keep her eyes off him. For his part, Royce is transfixed by the vision of Maren looking at him while she unconsciously licks the frosting off her lips.

Ellie gives her boss a piece of cake, which he absently mangles with his fork.

"Honey, you might try eating it," Tiffany teased and he snaps out of his latest reverie.

"Not real hungry," he said, placing it aside.

"You OK?" his wife asked. Not wanting to worry her, and not quite sure if there actually is a problem, Sean nods. "You're taking this womanhood thing a little rough, sweetheart. She really is only one day older than she was yesterday."

"I know," Sean said, as he wondered if that was really there was to it. "It's a great party, baby, you did a wonderful job getting it all together so quickly."

"Ellie was a very big help," Tiffany admitted. "She really can do just about anything, can't she?"

"Absolutely. I believe she's typed up the party conversation in triplicate while we've been sitting here in case anyone requests it in the future," he said.

Their conversation is halted when Robert Scorpio makes a big entrance, presenting Maren with a huge box with a big bow on it and twirling her around on the dance floor as the band kicks back into gear.

"The man can still make an entrance," Tiffany said.

"Sometimes I think he overcompensates a bit because he feels guilt," Sean said.

"About Robin?"

"Yeah, like Maren's his chance to make up for mistakes he thinks he made."

"Could be. The subconscious works in mysterious ways," she said.

"Sure does," he replied.

Maren gamely dances with her uncle, but she keeps her eyes on Royce. He blows a kiss good night to her as the song comes to an end and disappears out the door before she can even get over to where he was standing. She appears bright and chipper to everyone for the rest of the evening, but all she's thinking about is him and their time on the docks that night.

An hour or so later, the exhausted Donelys return to their penthouse.

"Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, amazing party," she said as she kisses both of them.

"Amazing daughter," Tiffany said, and Maren smiles back at her as brightly as she can.

"Night," her daughter said, running upstairs to write down every moment she can remember in her journal.

"So, you want to turn in as well?" Tiffany inquired.

"Might be a good idea," Sean said.

She takes her husband's hand and leads him up the stairs to their room.

"Remember how we used to celebrate this day?" she asked suggestively.

"Of course I do," Sean responded. "I think I once said I'd be willing to mark this day that way until our bones were so brittle that wouldn't be able to risk it."

"How are your bones feeling now?" Tiffany wondered.

"Feeling pretty good right now," he said, backing her onto the bed.

A couple hours later, Sean and Tiffany are fast asleep in each others' arms when his eyes pop open. He looks around the room, seemingly not finding whatever it is he's searching for. He gets out of bed, goes to the closet, pulls out his trenchcoat and puts it on, then slips on a pair of shoes and leaves the room and the penthouse...

The next morning, the Donelys are having coffee in the kitchen when a bubbly Maren bops into the room. She kisses both of them, twirling around the room like a ballerina. Tiff smiles broadly while taking in the performance. Maren pours herself a glass of orange juice and kissing them both again before exiting the room.

"Uh oh," Tiffany said.

"Uh oh what?" Sean replied.

"Something's up?"

"How can you tell that?"

"I'm her mother," she said matter-of-factly.

"What kind of thing do you think is up?" he asked, confused.

"I've seen that look before."

"What look?"

"That look on her face," Tiff said.

"I have too," Sean responded. "Every day. She's my daughter too."

"Boy, are you in for a rude awakening," she said, shaking her head.

"Mind explaining yourself?"

"Sure, darling," she said somewhat condescendingly. "That look I've seen before, it's the same one I saw in the mirror - the day I met you."

"That's ridiculous," he responded.

"This is it. Finally. Eleven years. The stranglehold is over, sweetheart," Tiffany said. "It's no longer you and Maren against me and the rest of the free world. I'm back in the saddle now."

"I'm quite sure one of us is out of our minds," a confused Sean said.

Maren burst back in the door. "Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?" She went out the door and came back in before it could swing shut. "It's kind of private."

"What did I tell you?" Tiffany said, winking at him. "This is great!"

"Yeah, great," Sean said, shaking his head in his hands.


	50. Chapter 50

Tiffany looks at Maren questioningly as they enter the living room. Maren sits on the couch and pats the spot next to her for her mother. Tiff dutifully sits in it. Maren gathers her thoughts and tries to figure out how to start.

"Stanton?" Tiffany said helpfully.

"Royce," Maren said quietly.

Tiffany nods. "Royce."

"How did you know?"

"I'm your mother, sweetheart."

"That obvious?"

"Well, it's obvious something - or someone - is on your mind. I wouldn't expect it would be someone from school with how grown up you are..." Tiffany starts gently before broaching her real point. "Not to mention the fact that you change in his presence."

"I don't change when he's around," Maren said a little too indignantly.

"It's OK, Maren, you're not transparent. It's just obvious to me because I love you. Because I've been there."

Maren blushes, but feels a little more at ease. "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Sure honey, you can ask me anything, you know that," Tiffany said.

"How do you know if a guy's interested? I mean ... the right guy. Like how did you know Dad was interested?"

Tiffany stifles a smile because she knows Maren would take it wrong. "Haven't I told you this story a million times?"

"I guess I didn't pay close enough attention, sorry," Maren said sorrowfully.

"It's OK, sweetheart," Tiff said, patting her daughter on the leg. "It always helps to have a frame of reference. ... Your dad... well, it was instant. Kind of chemical. You can't really define that kind of thing."

"So you can't tell," she said.

"There's a couple of ways you can tell. Body language. How he's talking to you, kind of open or closed off. Also in the way he looks after he's said something. Does he look like he means what he says or does he look like he's covering?"

"OK, that makes sense," Maren said, and she feels a little better.

"Can I tell you some of my own observations?" Tiffany said, pushing her luck.

"Yeah," an apprehensive Maren replied.

"I think he is interested," she admitted. "He's had a soft spot for you quite a while."

"I don't understand why he doesn't show it."

Now Tiffany can't hide her smile. "Sorry, honey. Men ... and especially men like your father and Stant... Royce ... they're pretty big at playing things close to the vest. But I'll tell you one thing, they also have the biggest hearts around and when they figure it out, no one loves harder than men like them."

"You're sure about that? I mean, he's not seeming inaccessible because there's nothing there to access?" Maren asked.

"You don't really think that, do you?" Tiffany prodded. Maren bit her lip and shook her head. "You're just kind of afraid of getting hurt." Maren nodded. "Well I'll tell you this, honey, that's the agony of love. But it's also kind of the joy of it all too."

Maren nodded again as Sean emerged from the kitchen. She got up quickly, then leaned over to hug her mother and ran up the stairs.

Sean gestures toward the stairs and slumps onto the couch next to his wife. "What's up with her?"

"Growing up," Tiffany said with feigned indifference.

"Is there some kind of switch on her? The second she turned 16 she had to become an adult?" Sean sighed.

"With how mature and smart she's always been, it's kind of a wonder it took that long."

"I guess so. Anything I need to know about?"

Again Tiffany found herself needing to hold back a laugh. She shook her head. "Just some growing pains. I don't think there's anything to worry about, she's got her head on pretty straight."

Ellie emerges from the office with papers and her purse. "Making my daily sojourn the law offices of Scott and Baldwin. ... Maybe if he took on a partner he wouldn't have to split his name to make it sound more impressive."

"I don't think he's the easiest person in the world to work with, that might have something to do with it," Sean said.

"Want me to pick up something for lunch while I'm out?" Ellie offered.

"No, I think we'll go out later," Sean responded.

"OK, see you in a bit," Ellie said as she opened the door. Royce was standing in the doorway, looking like he was unsure if he was going to knock or not. "You coming in?" she added.

Royce nods and walks into the room. Tiffany's smile starts to creep across her face again. Sean has no visible reaction to him, so he figures out that Maren has talked to her mother and not her father about him.

"What's with you?" Sean said to the sullen figure. "Mattison taking your resignation with the World Security Bureau badly?"

"He wasn't thrilled."

"I don't see why not, he'll still suck you right back in whenever he needs something that you'll be perfectly suited for," Sean said.

"That's rather cynical," Royce replied.

"I'm familiar with their work," Sean added.

Tiffany had to nod in agreement. "Opening a detective agency, seems like old times around here," she said.

"Still have to get Robert and Anna back into the fold," Sean said. "They don't seem interested so far."

"Just takes one case to get their juices flowing," Tiffany said.

Maren bounds down the stairs, and her own juices start flowing as she looks into Royce's eyes. He's looking anywhere but at her. Tiffany's looking at both of them. Sean doesn't seem to be aware of any of it and he invites Royce to join him in his office for more business talk. Maren looks over at her mother questioningly as the men depart.

"There's one more thing I'd like to add about our earlier conversation," Tiffany said. "Men ... the ones worth waiting for ... they will make you wait. You knowing you're right for them is one thing. Them figuring it out is quite another. And there's really no way to hurry the process along."

Her daughter scrunches her face disappointingly, but she nods and bounds back up the stairs. Tiffany finally allows herself the laugh she's been stifling for several minutes.


	51. Chapter 51

Tiffany and Sean are getting ready for bed later that night. Sean looks distracted.

"Long day, honey," she said. "I hope you're not taking on more than you can handle."

He brushes it off. "It's nothing. A little PI office. Certainly done that before. And with Ellie and Stanton and even Scott Baldwin's help, it's coming together pretty easily."

"Then what's wrong? Still worried about Maren?"

"I'll always worry about our daughter, but I think she's fine," he said as he pulled off his slippers and moved under the covers.

He takes his wife in his arms like he always had done and kisses her on the temple. Tiffany looks into his eyes. They seemed haunted and devoid of the spark she was so used to seeing in them and she got a little frightened by that, although she knew better to push him on it if he wasn't ready to talk about it.

"I love you, you know," she settled for.

"I know. I love you too," he said, flipping off the light with his free hand. She reaches across his chest so she could hold it in her own after he settles into the bed. She kisses it lightly on the knuckles.

Tiffany's eyes flutter shut, but she still can't shake the feeling that something's wrong with him. But Sean's pretty much out like a light.

A few hours later, though, Sean looks wide awake as a light drizzle taps on the windows of their bedroom. He moves out of his wife's embrace slowly without waking her up, puts on his slippers and leaves the room. He walks down the stairs of the penthouse and out the front door.

The next morning he's back in bed with his wife, spooning against her as the light comes through the bedroom window. The weather's cleared up so fast that no one who didn't see it would even realize it had rained the previous night. The phone rings, Sean stirs and reaches backward to pick it up.

"Yeah?" he said into the receiver. "Oh hi, Ellie. ... I'm fine, how are you? ... The meeting this morning with the real estate agent? Forgot all about it. Thank goodness I have you to keep me on the straight and narrow. I can be there in half an hour. Bye."

Tiffany stirs and he stretches to put it back on the hook. "Wasn't this supposed to be retirement?," she quipped.

"I know, baby. But I'm the money man, so I guess I need to be in on all this. I'm sure once this office is all set up they won't need me to serve as much more than the figurehead," he said as he got out of bed.

"Yeah right," she said knowingly.

Sean goes into his closet to pull a suit out. "You go ahead and go back to sleep. I'll give you a proper wakeup call when I get back."

"Sounds nice."

"It will be," he said, purposefully lowering his voice before heading to the bathroom.

An hour later, Tiffany is fitfully lying in bed waiting for Sean to return and wake her up properly. She drums her fingers impatiently on her pillow and finally just decides to get up. She pulls a lacy robe on over her nightgown and heads for the bedroom door, but trips over one of Sean's slippers.

"Should have stayed in bed," she muttered. "Why are these wet?" She picked up a slipper and turned it over, noting that there's mud caked on the bottom. Her brow furrows.

Ninety minutes later, Tiffany's dressed and still mulling over the slippers in the living room when Sean's key turns in the front door.

"I thought you were going to wait for me upstairs," he said disarmingly.

"Yeah, I couldn't get back to sleep," a distracted Tiff said.

"Maybe I should just tire you out so that you CAN get back to sleep," he retorted. She doesn't say anything. "That line is supposed to have a 90 percent success rate, you know."

"Did you go out last night after we went to bed?" she asked.

"What?"

"Did you get up and go out last night?"

"No. Why do you ask?"

"Just trying to figure out why your slippers were wet."

"Maybe I kept them on when I was in the shower, Lord knows I wasn't conscious when Ellie called this morning."

"...And they were also caked in mud."

Sean's flip attitude fades with her last statement.

"How can that be?" he asked.

"I don't know, if you went out onto the balcony or something, they might be wet, but they wouldn't be dirty."

"I didn't go out on the balcony. I didn't go anywhere."

"You had some wine last night, maybe you just forgot?" she said, just grasping for some kind of answer.

"I can certainly hold one glass of wine without memory loss, honey," he said, irritated not by her but by what she's told him. He gets up and climbs the stairs to check out the tell-tale slippers for himself.

Across town in the new PI office, Ellie's in her element as she sets up shop with Royce. A delivery man is rolling in a ton of office equipment as she gets off the phone with another bureaucratic agency.

"No sooner do we sign the lease then we've got all kinds of stuff rolling in here," Royce said. "We'll look like we've been in business a year by the end of the day."

"I've known him for 10 years, he's always been that way," Ellie replied.

"When that man makes up his mind, he makes up his mind," Royce said to her, showing the man with the cart to another room.

"That's certainly true," she said to herself. She leans over to a bouquet of flowers on a desk otherwise devoid of personal objects and reads the card "Thanks for last night." She smiles and tucks the card into her suit pocket. She rubs her lip thoughtfully as she thinks back to the previous evening.


	52. Chapter 52

Later that night, Sean is a little apprehensive about going to sleep. Particularly since he's still bothered by the unsolved "wet slippers" incident.

"I could lock the door," Tiffany said playfully as she closed it behind her. Sean grimaces. "Mostly because I want you all to myself," she added. He stays silent. "Honey, it's not a big deal. You probably were overly tired after the long day. Maybe you went to the car to get something and just forgot about it."

"I guess," he said, not entirely convinced.

"I could tire you out if you want," she said, sliding into her side of the bed.

"Mmmm, hmmmm," he said, also getting in bed, taking special note of the fact that his current pair of slippers was dry.

They snuggle in together. "Is there something you want to talk about, honey?" Tiffany said after a minute or so of silence.

"No, nothing's really going on that you don't know about," he replied.

That statement sort of hung awkwardly in the air.

"OK, it's just ... well, you know you can always say anything to me," she continued. "Doesn't matter what it is, I'm just there for you."

"I know, baby," he said, pulling her into his arms. "I don't really have anything important on my mind but you and our daughter."

"And the business you're starting up from scratch."

"I'm not even really thinking about that. Like I told you, it's kind of taking care of itself."

"Maybe you don't really want to do it after all," she said.

"No, I think it'll be good. Keep me from sitting around all day twiddling my thumbs."

"If you're sure."

"I am."

Tiffany isn't really sure where to take the conversation from there, as bringing up his choice of business partners and their daughter's apparent fascination with him didn't seem like a good idea. "Want to watch the Late Show?"

"No, I think I'd just like to lie here and snuggle with my wife."

"I've never particularly minded that."

"Me neither."

The air grows silent again. Tiffany sort of hopes her comment would be an opening for them to get a little more physical, but no attempt is forthcoming from Sean. So she just rubs her cheek against his arm and waits to fall asleep.

A few hours later, Tiff awakens with a start, thinking she heard a loud banging noise. She doesn't move a muscle, listening intently for something to happen, but everything seems to be quiet. Sean's arm isn't around her anymore, so she shifts her hip backward in hopes of rubbing up against him. But there's no one there. That wakes her up totally.

"Sean? Sean?" she asks, again the atmosphere around her is without sound of any kind. She gets up and looks in the bathroom, no one is there. She walks to his side of the bed, his slippers are gone. She walks down the hallway and peeks into Maren's room. Their daughter is asleep on the bed, she can see her inhaling and exhaling because of the blue light her computer screen is radiating on the desk across from the bed.

She softly walks downstairs, no sign of him there either. She checks the doors to the balcony, they're both locked. She walks to the kitchen, it's dark and shows no signs of being disturbed. She goes to the front door, it too is locked.

She goes back to the couch and slumps into it. "Where could he be?"

Across town, Sean is at the cemetery. He ambles over to the plot that formerly had the headstone bearing his name which now has an unknown grave marker. He kicks at the grass that's started to grow over it. Flashbacks come fast and furiously, of him seeing his own tombstone and of life in Popovic's underground cell. He runs his hand down the smooth face of the gravestone, seeing his own name as he does it. He rubs his fingers to his temples and walks off.

Back at the penthouse, Tiffany's not sure what to do. She picks up the phone and dials Sean's cell. It apparently is turned off and goes right to voicemail. She considers waking up Maren and asking her if she knows anything, calling around Port Charles to see if anyone's seen him but those moves feel wrong to her. She wraps herself tightly in her robe and stays on the couch to wait for him.

The mood is much lighter at Ellie's studio apartment. Although dressed in a night tank top and matching pants, she's apparently prepping for a visitor that she's expecting. The flowers she received earlier in the day are prominently displayed on an end table and she arranges them and then rearranges them to her liking. The doorbell rings, she looks through the peephole and smiles.

"I was hoping you'd come by," she said as she dramatically opened the door.

When Sean walks in, Ellie throws herself into his arms. He responds to her immediately, backing her up to the bed and leaning them both down on it. He quickly peels off his coat and other articles of clothing and drops them on the ground, then gets back to the business at hand.

Tiffany's still on the couch and wide awake hours later when Sean gets home. He doesn't seem to see her as he methodically opens and then locks the door and heads up to the bedroom.

"Sean? Is everything OK?"

He doesn't answer and keeps on walking. She follows him up to the room. When she gets to the doorway, she sees him taking off his overcoat and hanging it in the closet.

"Sean?" she says again. Still no response from him. Now he's on the edge of the bed taking his slippers off.

"Sean?" she repeats, this time louder.

A startled Sean, just about to climb under the blanket, looks up. "What is it, honey? Something wrong?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Where were you?"

"What do you mean? I've been here the whole time."

"No, you haven't," she said and now they're both wide awake.

"I haven't?"

"No, you just walked in the door two minutes ago," she said.

"That can't be," the baffled Sean said.

"I was downstairs waiting for you. You came in the front door and walked right by me." She looks at him with grave concern. "Honey, you must have been sleepwalking."

"I don't sleepwalk," he said.

"I've never noticed it before, but it certainly explains why you don't remember and why you walked right by me when I said something to you."

Sean picks up the slippers on the ground and regards them in what little light is coming through their window. "They're not wet, but they definitely were outside."

"I probably shouldn't have woken you, they say it's not good to do that to someone who is sleepwalking."

"No, it's OK. I'm sorry I scared you."

"I think I'm more scared about why this is happening to you."

Sean takes a deep breath. "So am I."


	53. Chapter 53

Sean and Tiffany are in the kitchen discussing his late night disappearance the next morning, apparently not having gotten that much sleep after it happened the night before.

"I think we should go to General Hospital so you can talk to somebody about this," Tiffany said.

"I knew you were going to say that," Sean replied.

"You knew I was going to say that because I'm right to say it. I wanted to bring this up last night and I just thought it was bad timing, I still think you should have seen someone anyone after what happened to you on that island."

"I don't need help because I was locked in a dark place for a few months. I certainly went through worse crises when I was with the WSB."

"I think there's no comparison too," Tiff said.

"Good, then we can drop it."

"Like hell, I'm going to drop it. The difference is you were taken away from your family for months. You didn't know if you were ever going to see us again. When you were with the WSB, you were a loner, not thinking about anything like that."

Maren breezes into the kitchen, blissfully unaware of the conversation and everything that preceded it. "Can you drop me off at school, Dad?"

"Sure, honey," he said.

"No, he can't, Rob will take you, Maren," Tiffany said sharply.

"I think I can get her to school, sweetheart. If I can get across town practically unconscious, I think I can go four blocks when I'm awake."

"Please don't joke about this, Sean."

"What's going on?"

Sean and Tiffany stop in their tracks, they look at each other, communicating without words. Tiffany shrugs, not knowing what to say about it.

"Mom? Dad? Want to clue me in?"

"Can we talk about this later, honey?" Tiffany finally said.

"I recognize the code word for 'never' when I hear it," Maren retorted.

"We'll talk about it later," her mother said again more stridently.

"Fine, fine, fine," she said as she exited the kitchen. "They tell you you're all grown up and they'll treat you like an adult, but really it's just the same thing on a different day." Her parents listen as she exits. "Fire up the Batmobile, Rob, you're taking me to school, woofreakin'hoo." The door slams behind her.

Sean turns back to his wife. "You're not going to give up on this, right?" She purses her lips and shakes her head in response. "OK, OK, I'll go. I don't think it's necessary, but the quickest way to prove that is to go to General and let them shrink my head."

They exit the kitchen and prepare to go out.

Meanwhile, Ellie breezes into the PI office. Her brightness fades a little when she looks at her desk and there is nothing on it and a little bit more after she checks her voicemail and her email and doesn't have any messages. She takes a peek in Sean's office, and frowns when there's no sign that he's been there.

Royce enters the office, three cups of coffee in his hand. "Morning, Ellie. Cream, two sugars for you, right?"

"Morning, yes, thank you," Ellie said with feigned interest.

"Boss man here yet?" he asked. She shakes her head.

"One of the perks of owning the candy store, I suppose," he said. "Can you shoot me the cold contact list over email? I'll start working the digits."

"Right away," she said, getting on it before he could even close his office door.

A couple hours later, Sean has been referred to Dr. Cowart, who has already irked Sean merely by being about half his age. Not to mention the fact that the psychiatrist doesn't exactly have a poker face, practically sitting open-mouthed as Sean regales him with the story of Sasha Popovic, his own "death" and the subsequent resurrection.

"It certainly sounds like grounds for sleepwalking," Dr. Cowart said. "Usually these episodes last only half an hour, it sounds like yours have been longer. That is a little cause for concern."

"I don't think we need to go overboard, doctor," Sean said. "It's only happened twice."

"Twice that you know of," the doctor interrupted.

"OK, twice that we know of, but I'm pretty sure that's all it's been."

"Why is that?"

"Well, my wife and I figured out these incidents rather quickly, and I'm sure if there were more, we would have noticed them as well."

"We could do a sleep study," Dr. Cowart said.

"What does that entail?"

"We keep you overnight, monitor what you do, that sort of thing."

"I really don't think that's necessary."

"I'm not sure it is either right now, but I'd certainly like to set up some more sessions, particularly if there are more instances."

"My wife will be thrilled to hear that," Sean grimaced.

"I'd like to talk to her for a couple minutes if I could," the doctor said.

Sean's clearly uncomfortable with the idea, but nods and goes to get Tiffany. She introduces herself brightly and shakes the doctor's hand before sitting down.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a couple of minutes and what you should and shouldn't do if Sean has another episode," Dr. Cowart said. Sean rolls his eyes.

"I woke him up last night and then, a minute later, I figured that probably wasn't such a good idea," Tiffany admitted.

"There are different schools of thought on that. Personally, I agree that the best idea is just to lead the sleepwalker back to bed as gently as possible. There are some indications that, particularly in adults, sleepwalkers can become violent if they're woken up. And the reasons that this is probably taking place at all right now would tend to lean in that direction, so do the best you can not to disturb him."

"Of course," Tiffany said.

"I was telling Sean about an overnight sleep study we can do here if it continues, but I have to say that there's a good chance it will start disappear now that he's talking about what happened earlier this year."

"That's great," she said supportively, squeezing her husband's arm. Sean's not quite as impressed.

"I'd like to see him again in a day or two, in the meantime, just to monitor the condition," the doctor said.

"OK, I will," Tiff said as they all rose to exit his office.

"As the doctor leaves them alone to give Sean's file to his assistant, he rolls his eyes again. "I can't see what good any of that could have done," Sean said.

"You never know. Sometimes just talking about these things can help," she said.

"Do me a favor and don't tell Robert about this, OK?"

"OK," she said.

"Or anyone else." He went to the counter to pay for his session.

"All right."

When they got back to the penthouse, Sean went right to the telephone to call the office. "Hi Ellie, it's me." Tiffany pours herself a glass of water and sits down on the couch.

"Hi yourself," Ellie said. "Everything all right?"

"Everything's fine, just had an appointment that I probably forgot to tell you about."

"Oh good," she said. "Are you coming into the office now?"

"No, I've got some things to attend to. Stanton there?"

"Yes. He's doing the cold calls."

"That's fine. Probably about all we can do anyway until people find out we exist."

"Will I see you later?" Ellie says hopefully.

"I'm not sure. Just call here at the penthouse if anything of note comes up."

"All right," she said disappointedly.

Sean hangs up, then walks over to the couch and leans back into it. "Now what?"

"You could take a nap ... you're probably pretty tired," Tiffany said. Sean makes a face that she quickly discerns as his reaction to an unappealing idea. "Want to talk?

"I think I'm talked out for now," Sean admitted.

"Can I do something for you?"

"Yeah, come here," he said, pulling her into his arms and leaning back so they're both lying on the couch.

"Sean, there's nothing wrong with recognizing what happened to you as traumatic. It was for all of us and I can't even fathom what that would have done to me."

"I'm sure glad we're not talking about it," he joked.

"I just don't want you thinking something's wrong with you, because that couldn't be farther from the truth," she said, pulling his arms tighter around her.

"Yeah, nothing's wrong with me," he repeated, not believing it for a second.


	54. Chapter 54

Later that afternoon, Ellie looks busy at the office, printing out documents and filing. But her mind is really on her phone conversation with Sean. I know he's got to play it cool in front of Tiffany, but I sure wish he'd give me some kind of sign over the phone, she says to herself. Her thoughts are interrupted when Maren comes in the front door.

"Hi El," Maren said brightly.

"Maren. How was your day?" Ellie asked.

"Nothing special," she said.

"I'm in touch with that emotion," Ellie replied.

"Dad around?"

"No, he didn't come in today."

"He didn't? That's weird. But then again, he was acting kinda wacky this morning."

"Wacky? How?" Ellie inquired as nonchalantly as she could.

"I don't know, something was going on between him and Mom. Of course they wouldn't tell me a thing," she said.

"Interesting," Ellie said.

"That wasn't exactly the word I'd use for it," Maren said.

Royce came barreling out of his office without looking up. "Ellie, could you get these over to Baldwin's right away? He says we can't incorporate until they're officially filed."

"Sure," Ellie said, grabbing her purse and taking them out of his hands. "Don't worry, Maren. I'm sure everything's all right," she said consolingly, patting her on the shoulder before she left.

"Yeah, right," Maren said in a tone that sort of echoed the way her father had been earlier.

"What's wrong, kid? Royce asked in an ill-fated attempt at sympathy.

"Kid, kid, kid... Yeah, I'm a kid. I'm not allowed to know anything."

"I don't understand," he said.

"And you're what - 25 years old? Be a long time before I know anything at this rate," she replied.

"You're not making any sense."

"That means a lot coming from a guy who never makes any."

Royce is trying to focus on what she's saying, but he's distracted by the fact that the girl/woman in front of him is sporting some kind of private school uniform despite the fact that she attends Port Charles High School. She's also twirling a lock of her hair around her finger and licking her lips, apparently without any idea at all that this could be affectin him. Royce resists the growing urge to pick her up, take her into his office and lay her down on the desk. Particularly since her father owns the place.

"Can you do that?" she asked.

Royce freezes as he looks at her. He realizes she couldn't have been reading his mind, particularly since he's still looking at him so innocently.

"Forget it, if it's that much trouble, I'll just call Rob to come get me," Maren said, heading for the door.

"No, wait, I'm sorry," Royce said, stopping her before she could leave. Their hands brush at the doorknob.

"You know, I thought you were weird before we kissed the night of my party. But this is even worse. You're acting like I'm not even there. I guess I must be one bad kisser," Maren said.

Royce chuckles as the young girl side of Maren took over. "You're not a bad kisser."

Maren forgets why she was mad. "So, I'm a good kisser?"

I think I need more of a sample group, Royce thinks to himself. He didn't say anything to her.

"I guess sharing time is over. I wish I got more of a heads up on your schedule so I could maximize however long it's supposed to be," she said, finally opening the door and slamming it with herself on the other side.

Royce exhales and leans against the door, shaking his head.

Sean and Tiffany are still curled up on the couch together when Maren gets home.

"What's wrong?" she asked when she saw them.

"Do you get the impression that she doesn't see us at rest that much?" Tiffany retorted. Sean half-snorts. "Or maybe it's that we usually go off to our own room when we are."

"It's not that, you just look so ..." Maren started. Her parents are almost leaning in to hear what she comes up with. "... solemn."

Tiffany leans back against him. "I think we should tell her," she said.

Maren crosses to the couch and gently pushes their legs back to carve out a space for herself. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

Tiffany chokes on the words and, even though he's drained, Sean can't hold back a smile. He rubs his wife's back while she gasps for air trying to recover from that one.

"No, honey, we're not going to have a baby," Sean said.

"OK, not that I'd mind, you know, it's just ... I don't know, weird," Maren said.

"It's weird all right," Tiffany said, finally recovering.

"You're not ... splitting up, right?"

"These are your guesses?" Tiffany exclaimed. "What happened to that genius level IQ?"

"I don't know, I definitely feel like I've been slipping," Maren said, thoughts of Royce entering her consciousness.

"We're not splitting up, baby," Sean said. "But you're right, something's going on and I guess you should know about it."

Maren falls silent as she waits for the explanation. Her parents look at each other, trying to figure out where to start.

"Your dad ... all that stuff that happened to him when he was gone, it's been bothering him in his head," Tiffany said.

"Like post-traumatic stress? Like what happened to people after 9-11?" Maren inquired.

"There's that Donely intellect," Sean said. "It seems to be kind of like that."

"Oh Daddy," Maren said sympathetically.

"Tell her why, Sean."

Sean shifts uncomfortably. Tiffany gets up and leans against the couch, pleading with him to go on with her eyes.

"What we didn't tell you after I got back ... and what I still have problems talking about ... is what happened while I was on that island."

"That madman kept you locked up the whole time," Maren recalled.

"He did. And ... he ... tortured me. Not just the part where I couldn't contact you or your mother - which was its own hell - but physically and mentally. He played mind games. It got so bad that sometimes I didn't know if he was really doing it or I was just reliving it without him even being in the room."

Maren moved to hug her dad. He ran his hands down her hair, trying to comfort himself more than he was trying to help her.

"I didn't know if I'd see either of you ever again, I was sort of losing my will to live every day," he admitted.

Tears welled up in Tiffany's eyes. She sniffed against her hand to try and keep from crying.

"He can't hurt you anymore, Daddy," Maren said. "And we're here and we love you so much."

"I know, baby. It's hard to explain why these things stay with you after something like that. But I guess it has. Apparently I've been sleepwalking."

"Really?" Maren asked.

"He's left the house at least a couple of times," Tiffany said.

"And you don't know where you went?" Maren continued.

"No idea," Sean said. "I really had no idea I was even doing it. But apparently that's how it has manifested itself."

"What can we do? Is there something I can do for you?" his daughter asked.

"I talked with a doctor today. I'm going to go back again, he seems to think it'll help to talk about it."

"What should I do if I see you doing that?"

"The doctor says the best thing is to just try and guide him back to bed. Don't wake him." Tiffany said.

"OK. I'll keep my eyes and ears peeled."

"Honey, I don't want you worrying too much about it," Sean said, still smoothing her hair. "These things usually resolve themselves. It just might take a little time."

Maren nods and hugs her father again. Tiffany wipes her eyes and rests a reassuring hand on Sean's arm.


	55. Chapter 55

In their bedroom later that night, Tiffany can't sleep a wink. Her eyes pop wide open every time Sean shifts in his sleep. But after about the ninth false alarm, Sean does actually get up and get out of bed.

"Honey?" she asked gently, trying to make sure that he is actually asleep and not just wanting to make a pit stop in the kitchen or the bathroom. No answer. "Sean?" she asked again a little louder as he put his slippers on. Still nothing.

Sean goes to the closet and pulls out his windbreaker. Tiffany gets up and quickly moves to him. "Baby, you don't want to go anywhere right now," she says.

"I have to go out," he said, and she's struck by the fact that even though he's talking to her she doesn't see the familiar twinkle in his eyes.

"I think it'll wait until morning," she said, gently taking the jacket from him and hanging it back up in the closet.

"OK, if you think so," he said.

"I do," she replied, then leads him back to the bed. She sits him down, he takes off his own slippers and leans back. She tucks him into bed and then quickly moves to the other side so she can get in herself. She kisses him on the neck and rubs the tip of her nose against him.

"I love you, baby," he said in his sleep.

"I love you too," she said leaning against him. She's so tired that she drifts off to sleep herself.

Tiffany's awakened by the sound of the front door closing - the same noise she heard the previous night. She leaps out of bed, putting her slippers on but nothing else. She runs out the bedroom door and down the staircase, fumbling for her keys in the dark.

"Mom," Maren said from the bedroom landing. "Was that him?"

"Yeah, honey, I'm going to go get him. Stay here, if he comes back, just lead him back to bed, OK?"

"OK, Mom," she said worriedly.

Tiffany impatiently waits for the elevator and takes it to the lobby. "Did you see my husband?" she asked the night watchman on duty.

"No, ma'am," he replied.

Tiffany takes off for the garage. She sees Sean slowly making his way to his car, almost like he's in a trance, and she wants to call out to him but bites her tongue. Sean starts the car and heads for the garage exit. Knowing she can't get to her own car in time, Tiffany runs to a taxi that just let another passenger out and tells the driver to follow Sean.

Sean drives to the cemetery. she blanches when she realizes where Sean's going and why. The front gate is locked, but she watches him scale the wall and jump over it.

"Will you wait for me?" she said to the driver.

"Since you haven't paid me yet, I guess I'll have to," he responded.

Tiffany jumps out of the cab and tries to find an easier way into the cemetery. She walks along the front wall, at the end of the property, it scales down another street at a lower height. She hoists herself over it and goes to where she expects Sean to be.

He's there when she finally remembers where the site is. Even though she's still a bit of a distance away from it, she can see him touching the blank tombstone that marks the grave she once thought he was buried in. A light drizzle has started to fall.

"Sean?" she called out in the softest voice she can. He doesn't hear her and now he's moving away from the grave and in the opposite direction from her.

"Oh no," she said to herself as she starts sprinting as much as her slippers would afford her to across the distance between them. The wet ground beneath her squishes as she runs and gives way just as she is about to get to him and Tiffany falls into an unfinished grave! Sleepwalking Sean continues to walk the other way, oblivious to her predicament.

She tries to claw her way out, but the ground is getting softer by the minute and she just keeps slipping back down. Wearing a nightgown and slippers isn't helping her cause either, but she continues to try and work her way out.

"I think I'm going to be the one sleepwalking after this," she said to herself. "If ... I get out of this." She tries jumping up again, only to slip back down. "Of course, it wouldn't be a lot of muss or fuss. Hey, I'm already here, just seal it on up, boys."

"Ma'am? Ma'am?" She hears a voice calling for her.

"Over here! Well, DOWN here!" she yelled back.

It's the taxi driver. After about five minutes of wandering around trying to locate the source of the voice, he finds her.

"Thank God I took a taxi," she proclaimed when she finally saw him leaning over her. He kneels on the ground, extends an arm and, after a couple tries, is finally able to hoist Tiffany out of the hole. "Thank you so much. You are soooo getting a big tip."

"I saw the man we were following leave and I was about to take off myself, thinking you had stiffed me, but then I heard my mother's voice berating me for leaving you alone in the cemetery and I thought better of it," he said, leading her back where they had come from.

"Thank goodness for that," she said. "I think I owe your mother a tip too."

"She's over there," he said, gesturing to another part of the cemetery.

"Oh, sorry," Tiffany said. "Don't mind me, I'm just traumatized."

"It's OK. I think if we weren't here I wouldn't bothered listening to the voice."

"I'll buy that," she said as she climbs out the way she had gotten in.

"Where to now?" he said.

"Well, I'm hoping he just went home, so take me back where you found me. ... I mean the building, not the grave of course."

"Right away, ma'am."

Across town, Ellie is playing sad easy listening music on her stereo when there's a knock at her door. She perks right up. Not even checking who it is, she whips the door open.

"I can't believe you're here," she said to Sean. "You sounded so strange on the phone I wasn't sure you'd come."

"I couldn't resist," he said, slamming the door and grabbing a hold of her.


	56. Chapter 56

Ellie's looking at Sean dreamily as he undresses her in the candlelight of her studio apartment.

"This is so different for me," she said aloud, entirely by accident.

"What's different about it?" he said.

"I don't know - this is all very romantic and it's sort of like being in a movie or something. And you're the man every woman wants."

"I would hardly consider that to be true."

"Oh, it's true all right," she said. "I wondered for a long time what it would be like to be with you. You just ..." She blushes furiously. "You really know what you're doing."

As if on cue, he bends his head to kiss the back of her neck, her shoulders and more. "Been with some guys who need lessons?" he retorted when he came up for a breath.

"I think a few of them could have used some instruction. And all of them definitely could have used some advice from you."

"I don't think what I do is all that special."

"You're not on the receiving end," she said, pulling him down onto the bed.

Ellie's reveling in the afterglow when the deed is done, curling up against the pillow.

"I knew the first time I saw you that you would be a veritable tiger in the sack," she said.

The voice emanating from the bathroom gives off a roar of approval. Ellie laughs with amusement.

"Although I never expected to find out for myself," she continued. "Let alone have some kind of continuing thing where every night is a new adventure."

'Why's that?" Sean said from the bathroom.

"A few reasons," Ellie said, pulling on an extra large-sized t-shirt. "You're not the usual type I attract. And I thought I wouldn't be the usual type that you're interested in. Also, you're so tied into your daughter and men like that..."

"Men like that what?" he said, raising an eyebrow as he opened the door.

"I don't know, maybe it's my own theory about men not wanting to do something that their daughter would consider distasteful."

"It does sound rather like a lousy supposition."

"Sorry," she said. "Didn't mean to spoil it. But then again, that's my personal history."

"It's not spoiled," he said, leaning over the bed to give her a light kiss. "Just a little sour. I'll see you later."

Ellie nods as Sean heads for the door.

"Chapters 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 of my personal history," she said mournfully as the door closes behind him. She closes her eyes and focuses on the good part of her evening.

Tiffany enters the penthouse, looking like a wreck with her nightgown soaked and muddied beyond recognition. Maren's jaw drops when she sees her mother.

"What happened?" she exclaimed.

"Hold on a minute," Tiffany said, going to her purse and pulling out a couple twenties for the taxi driver. "Thanks again ... for everything."

"It was my pleasure," he said, saluting her with the folded twenties before leaving the penthouse.

Maren looks at her mother questioningly.

"I lost him," she said. "Did he come home?"

Maren shakes her head mournfully.

"Let me go change and I'll tell you what happened."

"Can I run a bath for you, Mom?" Maren said.

"That would be great, sweetie, thank you."

The Donely women head upstairs.

Half an hour later, Tiffany is still in the tub, covered with bubbles. Maren brings her a cup of tea.

"Have any idea of where he could be?" her daughter said.

"Not a clue," Tiffany replied. "I was hoping he'd be back here when I got out."

"I should have gone with you," Maren said.

"We both could have wound up in there. Besides it was important for you to be here if your father came back."

"Wish we had some kind of idea where he was ... maybe we should call Royce?"

Tiffany looked at her daughter pointedly.

"Because maybe he has some kind of clue as to his whereabouts," Maren said, knowing exactly what her mother's look meant. "What am I talking about, that man has no clue."

"Maybe he's down at the docks wandering around," Tiff said. "That's where he was taken from, it's a possibility."

"Well, I was doing some reading online and the experts say that he wouldn't do anything that it's out of his nature to do," Maren said. "But..."

"Go ahead."

"But, there are instances where the sleepwalking person will become violent," she added.

"You know how your father feels about violence. He's always hated that. So if he isn't going to do something that he's not prone to do, that should discount causing harm to himself or anyone else."

Maren bites her lip. "I hope so."

"OK, I think I'm starting to prune. Can you grab a robe and a nightie for me?"

"Sure," Maren said and walks into her parents' bedroom. She comes back in half a minute later.

"Maren?" Tiffany asked, wondering why she reappeared without either.

"Dad's in bed."

"What?"

"He's back ... he's asleep."

"Oh, thank God. I still need a robe and a nightie, though."

"Right, sorry." She comes back in with both for her mother, then goes into the bedroom and watches Sean snoring softly away. Tiffany comes out and puts her arms around Maren. "I think Dad's going to be going into General for an overnight sleep study, honey."


	57. Chapter 57

About eight weeks later, Sean's been through his overnight sleep study - which merely confirms the obvious, that he walks in his sleep. Dr. Cowart has prescribed medication, which Sean was strongly opposed to, but has been taking regularly anyway. The number of sleepwalking incidents has declined over that time. He's also been having two sessions a week with the psychiatrist, going over and over various incidents that occurred during his captivity by Sasha Popovic.

Things are starting to progress at the detective agency as well, as Royce has picked up several corporate clients attracted by Sean's name in the business. He's making no progress whatsoever in a possible relationship with Maren, however. But that's mostly because none of the Donelys have put in many appearances over at the agency during the past couple months. And that hasn't made Ellie any happier either. She's not getting very many late night visits.

"Ellie, are those contracts ready for Diamond Industries?" Royce said, emerging from his office late in the afternoon.

"Yeah, they're..." Ellie said, stopping for a moment when she became light-headed. "Sorry, shouldn't have skipped lunch, I guess. They're right here." She hands over a folder.

"Why don't you take off early and go and grab and early dinner?" Royce asked.

"I don't want to leave you in a bind," she said.

"You're not," he replied.

"OK, I'd appreciate it," Ellie said.

"Not a problem," Royce answered.

Ellie picks up her purse and heads for the door.

"And El... if you're not feeling well tomorrow, you know you can take what's called a sick day."

"I'm sure it's nothing. I'll be fine. See you tomorrow."

As soon as Ellie closes the door behind her, the agency phone rings.

"That is amazing timing," Royce said. And just as he says that, another line lights up. He goes into his office, puts his feet up on the desk and starts pressing buttons on the phone.

"Donely Investigations, please hold. ... Donely Investigations, Royce Stanton here, how can I help you? ... Uh yes, Mr. Diamond, I have that information right here."

Maren walks in the front door. "Hello?" she said to no one in particular. A third line lights up on the phone.

"Donely Investigations, how may I assist you?" she said, repeating what she'd heard Ellie say a time or two thousand. "Yes, sir. You're calling about your invoice. Let me check the computer."

Maren deftly punches up the Accounts folder on Ellie's computer. She opens the Haddon Corporation folder and the payments one within that. "Oh I see. Yes, that fee is a one-time-only startup cost. Basically it covers our agency familiarizing ourselves with your company, setting you up in our system, that sort of thing. No, you won't be charged that fee each month. ... Yes, thank you for calling, sir. I'm glad I could put your mind at ease."

"Impressive," Royce said from his doorway as she hung up the phone. "Interested in a job?"

"Here? ... with you?"

"I think we could definitely use someone with your unique skill set," he said.

"You think that's one of your mature in-jokes that's over my head, don't you?" she said, raising her eyebrow.

Royce scratches his neck. OK, that was a little bit on his mind. But no, it wasn't the only reason. "No, it's not the only reason," he said. "Besides, it's the family business, right?"

Maren's too busy studying the part of his neck that he exposed to think about the words coming out of his mouth. She nods.

"Great. How about weekends and after school as your activities allow?"

"What?"

"Your new job, here at the agency. I'm sure your father will make an attractive salary offer."

Salary isn't exactly on Maren's mind at that moment. "One thing?"

"What's that?"

"I don't want to be just in-house. I want to do some field work."

"I don't know about that," he said with concern.

"One case each month with opportunity to be out in the field. Otherwise I'm out," Maren said with more authority than she actually felt.

"OK, deal," Royce said, offering his hand.

Maren scrunches up her face, thinking I guess they don't seal too many business deals with a kiss. She extends her own hand back to him. When they touch they both flash back to their first kiss. Royce wonders if he just made a mistake as Maren realizes she just brokered the greatest deal of her life.

A few hours later, Ellie's at home, with a bag, box and various utensils from Kelly's takeout on her bed. She, however, is in the bathroom, throwing up.

The Donelys, by contrast, have gotten into the habit of eating dinner together every night around the kitchen table.

"I think it's a great idea," Tiffany said brightly as Maren told them of her new job.

"I hate it," Sean said.

"Hate it?" Maren said indignantly.

"OK, maybe that was a bit strong of a response," he added quickly. "I just don't think you need to be tying yourself down to a job. Especially one like this. You should be out there having a good time, enjoying your teenage years while you still can."

"I think she's trying to enjoy her teenage years," Tiffany said, winking at her daughter.

"Mother!"

"If it's what you really want to do, honey, that's fine," Sean said. "I just don't think it should be what you really want to do, that's all."

"Thanks Daddy," Maren said, kissing her father. "May I be excused?"

"Of course, darling," Tiffany said and Maren disappeared out the door practically before she got her answer. "You do know why she wants that job, right?"

"Why am I guessing it's not to be near her dear ol' dad?" Sean replied.

"It's to be near someone ... just not you in particular, sweetheart," she said.

"Oh no, don't tell me."

"Why should I have to tell you? Aren't you an expert in the field of human relations?"

"I don't want to hear about any relations between Stanton and my daughter."

"Our daughter," Tiffany interceded.

"Either my daughter or our daughter," Sean said. Tiffany beamed, happy to see some of Sean's spark back. "Stop smiling at me that way, woman. I always know I'm in trouble when I see that smile." She grinned back at him even wider. "Donely women ... can't live with 'em ... can't live without 'em. Make that just can't live without 'em."

Tiff's response to that line was the biggest and brightest smile of them all.


	58. Chapter 58

The next morning, the Donelys are all curled up in each other in their bedroom. Sean's kissing his wife's neck and she's luxuriating in that feeling.

"No extracurricular activities last night?" Sean asked.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I would wake up if you started sleepwalking, since when a hair falls off my head and onto my pillow, my eyes pop open," Tiffany said.

"May I inquire as to what you thought of the regularly scheduled activities then?" he said suggestively.

"I'm a big, big fan of adhering to a regimen... when it comes to you," she retorted. "Remember our big dinner-or-bath deal when we were first married?"

"How could I forget that one? Remind me why we stopped doing that?"

"I think it was the week you took a shower or a bath with me every day AND still made it home in time for dinner," she recalled.

"Ah yes," he said. "Those were the days."

"I'm free all this week if you'd like to pencil me in," she said.

"I think I'll use pen, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," she said as he pulled her closer to him.

"You know what's funny is the doctor told me something ridiculous like this medication could limit my sex drive," he said. "But, uh, it seems to be working in quite the reverse."

"Sean Donely will not conform to any perfunctory medical standards," she said mock-dramatically. "He makes the rules, he does not merely adhere to them."

"Damn right," he said, circling her with his arms and pulling her toward him. "Then again, I wager that most of the test subjects didn't have this sexy a woman in bed next to them every night."

"Honey, you should write a book called 'Sexy Comebacks for Any Given Situation'," she said, letting him have his way with her.

"Only if you'll give me all the situations so that I can come back with them," he said lustily

About 90 minutes later, there's a knock on their bedroom door.

"Who is it?" Tiffany quipped.

"Funny, Mom. Can I come in or are you not decent?" Maren joked, not even fathoming that her parents could have been up to what they actually just finished being up to.

Tiffany laughs into her husband's chest and they quickly pull on their bed clothes. "Maybe we should have locked the door," Sean said.

"Well, can I come in or not?" Maren said, irritated.

"It wouldn't mean I love my daughter any less if I said 'no', would it?" Sean asked his wife semi-seriously. "OK, you can come in."

"Will you take me down to the agency?" Maren asked.

"All that because you wanted us to give you a ride to work?" Sean responded.

"Yes or no?" Maren demanded in her unauthoritative teenage way.

"Since you put it that way, OK," Sean said. "I probably should put in an appearance there. Make sure there's still an agency there for her to work at so that she's not sitting in front of some cardboard box that says "Private" with a scary picture of an eye under it."

"Come on, you trust Royce," Tiffany said.

"Not since you told me my daughter had a crush on him, I don't."

"Well, you trust Ellie," she said.

"Yes, Ellie has a good heart," Sean replied.

"She would never let Stanton run rampant over your good name," Tiff said.

"I'm not sure how good it is, but I would expect that to be true."

"Good, now get dressed," she said.

"Only if you promise to come back here and pick up where we left off," he said.

"I promise."

"Good."

At the PI office, Ellie is in Royce's office.

"Are you still not feeling well, Ellie? Because I told you that you can stay home until you do."

"Can't stay home nine months," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Royce said, having heard it what she said but not really believing what he heard.

"I guess it won't be a secret for very long," she said. "I'm going to have a baby."

"Wow. Ummm, I'm surprised. I didn't know you... uh, congratulations!" Royce said with supreme uncomfortability. "Are you ... going to get married?"

"Ummm, I don't think so. He's not really ... it wasn't really in our plans to have a child," Ellie said.

"But it's good news, right?"

"Yeah, it's good news. I'm happy. I love him very much. I just don't want to ruin anything either."

"So you haven't told him yet?" Royce asked.

"No. We ... this is so awkward ... we haven't been seeing too much of each other lately. I'm not sure it's great timing for him."

"I'm sure he'll be excited when he hears the news."

"I hope he will be," Ellie said hopefully, but with doubt in her mind.

Still extremely uncomfortable, Royce fidgets in his chair. He decides to get up and kiss her on the cheek. "It's really amazing, congratulations. A baby ... that's a little miracle."

The Donelys appear in the doorway and obviously have heard at least the last part.

"I didn't even know you were seeing anyone, Ellie, that's great," Tiffany said brightly. "Who is he? Can you tell us about him?"

"You know him very well," Ellie said, embarrassed that this would be how Sean the news she wanted to tell him herself. She looks at him for some sign of support, but all that's registering on his face is shock. "It's your husband."

Sean and Tiffany can't believe what they just heard.


	59. Chapter 59

Tiffany and Sean have just been blindsided by Ellie's announcement that she's pregnant and Sean's the father.

"What did you just say?" Sean asked.

"You heard me," Ellie said meekly.

"You're lying," Tiffany replied.

"I'm not," Ellie responded. "Am I?" she asked Sean.

"Of course, you are," he said. "I just don't know why in heaven's name you would do something like that."

It's Ellie's turn to be shocked. Uncomfortable Royce ducks out of the office without a word. "Look, it was nothing I had planned," Ellie continued. "It just happened. But you can't pretend that nothing happened between us."

"I don't have to pretend," Sean said.

"You were in my bed every night for three weeks," she said.

"He wasn't," Tiffany said plainly.

"I can prove it," Ellie said.

"You'll have to," Tiffany responded.

"You can't tell me you know Sean's whereabouts every night of the past couple months," Ellie said.

Sean and Tiffany lock eyes knowingly, until he has to look away.

"See?" Ellie followed.

"That doesn't mean a damn thing," Tiffany said.

"Oh, it doesn't?" Ellie inquired.

"No, it doesn't," Tiff said.

"Look, I know you don't want to wreck your marriage. I get that. Hell, I didn't want to either. We've all known each other a long time. But sometimes things happen. Things change."

"Yeah, sometimes your assistant can turn into a raving lunatic when you least expect it," Tiffany barked.

"I really don't have to take this ... and I'm not going to," Ellie said. "You know where I am when you want to talk," she added in Sean's direction.

Sean slumps into a nearby chair. "I can't believe this."

"I don't believe it," Tiffany said. "Something's wrong here."

Sean's mind is reeling.

In the outer office, Maren and Royce have just seen Ellie storm out.

"What's going on?" Maren asked.

"I don't think ... I'm in a position to tell you," Royce said.

"Why not?"

"It's private family business," Royce said. "You should talk to your parents."

"It's bad," Maren said, recognizing the worry in his tone.

"Yeah," he said gently.

"Is this about dad's sleepwalking?" she asked.

"Your dad's been sleepwalking?" Royce asked.

"Yeah. Well, he was. As a result of all that stuff that happened with Popovic. But I thought things were getting better. They seemed better," she said.

"I think they just got worse," he said.

Sean and Tiffany come out of the office, looking totally shell-shocked.

"Dad? What is it?" Maren asked.

"Uh honey, I'm going to take your father home. He's not feeling great," Tiffany said. "Royce, would you mind bringing Maren home later after the office closes?"

"Of course, it's not a problem," Royce said.

"I want to go with you," Maren said.

"Just give us a little time, OK? We'll see you later," her mother said.

Sean tries and fails to give his daughter a little smile. Tiffany wraps her arm around his and leads him to the door.

"Why do I feel like I just got hit with a brick?" Maren asked when they were gone. Royce rubs her arm comfortingly, but even that isn't working for her at that moment.

Tiffany and Sean arrive home, having not said anything in the car on their way there. She leads him over to the couch and pulls him down on it.

"I'm not sure what to say, except I'm sorry," Sean said.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Tiff replied.

"I do. I ... just ruined our lives."

"No, you didn't."

"How can you say that?"

"I don't believe a word she says," Tiff explained.

"She said she has proof. And we have none of where I was when I was sleepwalking," Sean said.

"She can say it until she's blue in the face. I'm not going to believe it, and you shouldn't either."

"I don't know how you can be so sure when I'm not," he admitted.

"I'm sure," Tiffany said. "You didn't sleep with her and you're not the father of her baby. And she can shout it until the cows come home, but it's not going to make it true. I'll never believe it."

"I should go talk to her."

"Why?"

"I want to hear what she has to say," Sean said.

"You already heard it. She's pregnant. And she's going to keep insinuating that you're the father until she has you talked into it."

"It's Ellie, sweetheart. We've known her a long time. She doesn't just make up things."

"We've not exactly been privy to her personal life, Sean. She knows all kinds of things about ours. All we know about hers is that she can't keep a man. And right now, it's starting to make a lot of sense why that is."

"Just let me talk to her."

"Alone?" Tiffany asked. "I think I'd prefer anything in the world to you going over there alone right now."

"I need to do that, please."

"What if she's drugging you, Sean?"

"She's not giving me roofies," he said. "OK, I won't eat or drink anything while I'm there."

"I know I'm not going to talk you out of this, so go ahead and go," she said, biting her lip.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Sean said, grabbing his coat and heading out. Maren and Royce have arrived at the front door just as he opens it. "I'll see you later, sweetheart," he said to his daughter.

"I'm going to get on out of here," Royce said. "Call me if you want a ride tomorrow... or if you just don't want to come in, that's fine too."

"I'll be there," Maren said, displaying the same stubborn streak as her parents. "Thanks, Royce." He nods and leaves.

"Mom? Want to tell me what this is about?"

"Not really, but I will. Seems Ellie is pregnant. ... And she's claiming that your dad's the father."

Maren's mouth drops open about the same way her parents' had earlier that day.


	60. Chapter 60

"Mom, that can't be true," Maren exclaimed.

"I don't believe it is," Tiffany said.

"Why did Dad leave if it's not?"

"Maren Donely, don't you talk like that about your father."

"I'm sorry, I just meant, why would he go over there?"

"He's upset ... he's confused," Tiffany said. "The times and dates ... they match up with when he was sleepwalking."

"Then how can you be sure?" she asked.

"Because I know him. We've been together a long time and I know what he is and is not capable of. You said it yourself from your own research, he couldn't do what it is not his will to do. I know he loves me and you and our family and he wouldn't."

Sean takes a deep breath as he shows up at Ellie's apartment. He knocks firmly.

"I knew it," she said, whipping the door open and trying to fling her arms around him.

"Don't do that," he said, brushing her away.

"Aren't you here because...?" Ellie asked hopefully.

"No, I'm not. I'm here for some answers."

"Tiffany's not here, why are you still pretending that nothing's going on?"

"I don't know why you're pretending that it is," Sean said. "You know for a fact, and probably better than most, that I love my wife. That she's the only woman for me."

"Maybe that once was true, but why would you have been in my bed if that was the case?"

Sean's looking her directly in the eyes, looking for signs of weakness and finds none. He realizes Ellie's saying what she believes to be true. And recognizing that breaks his heart.

"All I can say to you is that I have no recollection of any of it," he said. "It's not what I wanted, it's not what I needed and ... ugh, I should have handled that sleepwalking disorder a lot sooner than I did if this was the result."

"Sleepwalking?" she asked, totally shocked. "You think you were with me because you were sleepwalking? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why didn't you say anything about our supposed affair to me during daylight hours?" he demanded.

"I thought I was being discreet. That that was the way you needed it to be while you sorted it all out."

"Sorted it out? Were you under the impression I was going to leave my wife and daughter for you? There's no way you could have been under that impression."

"No, I didn't think that," Ellie said. "I didn't dare to dream that. I just loved being with you. And you seemed to... Guess it doesn't matter what you 'seemed to be' like. It wasn't the truth."

"No, it wasn't," he said. "I've got to leave. We'll talk about this ... I don't know when we'll talk about it, I just have to go back to my family."

Ellie nods as Sean departs as quickly as he arrived. She flops down on the bed and pulls her knees to her chin.

Sean takes a deep breath as he returns to the penthouse, unsure of who he'll have to face when he walks in the door. It's Maren.

"Dad," she says quietly after he enters.

"Maren. I suppose you've heard the whole story."

"As much as Mom knows anyway. Is this really all about the sleepwalking?"

"It seems to be."

"And you still love Mom?"

"Of course I love your mother."

"Just thought I'd make sure. She's so all fired convinced that you didn't do this. she ... just needed someone to look out for her interests."

"I guess that makes sense," Sean admitted. "I love that you're so protective of her. But Maren, you and your mother mean the world to me. She's the only woman I've ever truly been in love with. And I don't know how to make this easier for her."

Maren's eyes well up with tears. "She loves you so much, she just can't fathom..."

"I know," Sean said. "I'm going to go be with her now." He bends to kiss her cheek, she flinches ever so slightly. "I'm sorry this hurts you too. The two women in the world I love most and I've just hurt them the most."

"Go take care of Mom, OK?" He nods and heads upstairs. Maren sinks back into the couch and wishes she could turn back the clock to stop all of it from happening.

Sean enters his bedroom about as slowly as he came in the front door. Tiffany is propped up in bed by a couple pillows.

"Hi," he said.

"How'd it go?" she asked.

He shakes his head, not knowing how to answer. "No roofies," he said, sitting down by her side. "Honey, we're going to have to accept that it's true. Everything she told me and, more importantly, the way she said it, leads me to believe she's telling the truth."

"No," Tiffany replied. "I know you didn't do it."

"How can you know that?"

"I just do. ... I've been thinking about it, Sean, and there are so many reasons why. Like every night after this supposedly happened, you came home and wrapped yourself around me in this bed? And you're trying to tell me you could do that, if something was going on with another woman. I just don't buy it.

"And nothing changed between you and her. I was replaying all these days and nights in my head while you were gone. Your attitude toward her never changed. You didn't treat her any differently. Not the slightest bit. She was your assistant and maybe your friend, but nothing beyond that."

"You can't do this to yourself, honey," he said gently. "I don't want you reliving every moment in hopes of proving something isn't true."

"But it is proof. No, we don't have videotape of where you were and when. But we have these moments and they really stand up as proof that you're the man we think you are. That I know you are."

"I don't deserve you," he said.

"You do. And I love you, I'll never stop loving and believing in you."

He takes his wife in his arms, wishing he had as much faith as she did at that moment.


	61. Chapter 61

Sean isn't feeling that much better about Ellie's pronouncement the next morning. He didn't sleepwalk, mainly because he was up most of the night, tossing and turning, and thinking about old bad memories. He's drinking coffee in the living room, when Tiffany comes down the stairs. She looks tired too, but she puts on a bright face.

"Morning," she said. "Coffee? Sean, you really could use some rest."

"You could too, I imagine," he replied.

"I'm fine."

"Don't know how you can be."

"It's easy when you know the truth," she said.

"But there's my history," he said. Maren is at the top of the steps about to come down when she overhears him. She sits down on the top of the landing, against the wall.

"Your 'history,' as you put it, is of being a loving husband."

"You know what I'm talking about."

"If you're going to bring that up, I can give you some more reasons why I know that isn't the case this time around," Tiffany said firmly.

"We were married, I had an affair," a distraught Sean said. Maren can't believe what she's hearing.

"We were separated, and you thought we wouldn't find our way back to each other. We did. I thank God we did."

"I do too. But it's a fact."

"Here are some other facts. When that happened, after we got back together, you looked so haunted," she said. "You couldn't look me in the eyes at times. You felt guilty."

"I was guilty."

"Look at me now," she urged. He turns his pained eyes to her, she studies him for a moment. "I'm seeing everything I need to know. You didn't do this."

"You don't see anything there that bothers you," he said.

"I see worry, I don't see guilt," she explained.

"I don't know how we're going to be able to prove that."

"We will. Ellie can't keep this lie going indefinitely. The truth will come out. If we have to wait for a paternity test, it will come out."

"You're too good to me," he said.

"I'm just being there for you. You're my husband, you're my best friend and I love you very, very much. I believe in you."

"I'm not sure how you can when I don't believe in myself."

"That's what you have me for. You've been there when I need you most. All that stuff that happened when I didn't remember who you were. You didn't give up on me, you did whatever you could to be there for me and help me."

"This is different."

"I don't think it is," she said.

"I better get over to the hospital for my session. I guess we have a lot to talk about today."

She nods as he gets up, leaning to kiss her on the cheek. "I love you very, very much," he said, still feeling disappointed in himself. He leaves the penthouse.

Maren gets up from her perch and comes down to the living room. "Mom?" she asked gently.

"Hi honey," Tiffany said, overly brightly.

"You never told me Dad had an affair."

"It's not something we really advertise."

"But you still think he didn't this time."

"I know he didn't."

"How can you be sure?"

"I'm sure because I know him. All that happened years ago. And there were circumstances. It was a very bad time. My sister had just died, we lost custody of your cousin, Lucas. I didn't handle it well. I pushed him away."

"And he just went away..."

"Yes, he did. But don't make any judgments on him, like I said, there were reasons. I was drinking a lot, I started taking pills. I made him miserable."

"He still should have stayed by your side and left that other woman alone," Maren said.

"He thinks that too, but I'm not sure it was possible," Tiffany explained.

"I always thought you were the perfect couple," Maren said, tears coming to her eyes. "What I always wanted for me."

"I still think we are. Sometimes in life, you just have to deal with things. And if you're not ready for them, everything can spin out of control in a hurry. It did."

"That's when you lost the baby," Maren said quietly.

"Your brother," Tiffany said softly. "Yes." She took a minute to think about him. "But then we found our way back to each other, and we were stronger for it."

Maren shakes her head, unable to understand how that can be.

"I know it doesn't make much sense, honey," she said. "But out of that unimaginable loss, we realized what we did have. And it made it so much more important to nurture that and keep it safe."

"And you didn't have doubts again?"

"No, I didn't. I was meant for your father and he was for me. And that's why I know that what Ellie says was going on wasn't."

"You're just so confident about it."

"That's what your father has given to me. My sense of place in this world - with you and with him."

"I still want to be like you when I grow up," she said admiringly.

"I hope you still want to find a man like your dad too. You couldn't do any better if you wanted to."

Maren's not so sure. She smiles at her mother. "I'm going to go in to work."

"Good idea," Tiffany said, realizing that Royce would be the perfect distraction for her daughter at that moment. "Want me to drive you?"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"Great. I'll go get ready," she said, bounding up the stairs.

"Maren?" Tiffany called after her. "Your father is the same man right now that he has always been to you."

Her daughter nods and continues up to her room.

Maren's still down when she arrives at the PI office. Royce is at the computer, looking for some file on Ellie's computer.

"Can't find the Hirschfeld account," he said.

Maren drops her bag on Ellie's desk, gestures to Royce for him to get up so she can look and starts typing away on the computer. She does a search, finds the folder tucked inside of another one, and pulls it out and over to the Accounts folder.

"You're really amazing," Royce said genuinely. When she didn't respond, his voice got softer. "You doing OK?"

"Just learning a lot of things that I thought were true aren't necessarily so," Maren said. "But then again, I'm the one who wanted to grow up."

"Your parents? They all right?"

"They're fine ... I guess they're fine," Maren said. "Mom's avoiding what's staring her right in the face and Dad's trying to avoid hurting her by shoving it back at her. And then I found out something this morning that I probably never needed to know."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I don't know," she said, before blurting out the rest. "My dad had an affair. Years ago, they were split up. Mom explained it away, but ... doesn't show his proclivity for that kind of behavior? My dad. My perfect dad. Knight in shining armor dad."

"I don't think one indiscretion years ago should tarnish your image of him," Royce said.

"Sounds like a 'man' thing to say, all right," Maren said sharply.

"Sorry, maybe it does." He turned her chair around so she was facing him. "But let me tell you something. I know an awful lot about human behavior, young lady. Your father loves his wife. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen anyone love the way they do."

"I always thought that," Maren said.

"He lights up when she comes in the room, you have to have noticed that," Royce said. "His voice changes. Maybe what happened ... sort of reinforced how much she means to him. Because I'm serious when I say they're the closest couple I've ever seen."

Maren thinks about that for a moment. "Thanks," she said.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do," she admitted.

"Good, then can you get the Hirschfeld contract printed out for me?"

Maren smiled in spite of herself. "Right away, sir," she said.

Royce gently kneads her shoulders as she calls up the file and preps it for printing. When he pulls away, she watches him go out of the corner of her eye and smiles to herself.


	62. Chapter 62

Tiffany's lying down in the bedroom when Sean gets home from his session. Despite everything that's happened, he's actually feeling better after talking with Dr. Cowart. He opens the door and looks at his resting wife, then decides to go back downstairs and let her sleep.

"Hi," she said peacefully.

"Hi," he echoed. "Wanted to let you sleep."

"Not sleeping, just thinking restful thoughts," she explained.

"Oh," he said, lying down next to her on top of the blanket. "Anything in particular?"

"Something very particular," she replied. "Maui."

"Mmmmm, Maui," he said, letting the memories of their tropical vacation years earlier wash over him.

"Only the most erotic moment of my life," she said.

"Which part... sex on the beach? In the villa? ... Oh, in the cabana," he added knowingly.

"Well, all three definitely were memorable. But specifically the latter. ... The full body massage."

"Do go on," he said, brushing her hair away from her cheek.

"I thought I was pretty relaxed after our first full day ... of sex," she said. "But then when you set me down on the pillows and started giving me that massage. Took my clothes off ... took your clothes off ..."

"Had you turn over ..."

"I'm sure I had a couple things in mind, but it wasn't quite what you did next," she recalled sensuously. "Making love to me without letting me touch you. Without letting me move a muscle. I didn't think I was going to be able to just relax completely, especially when you started nuzzling and kissing and licking my neck."

"You looked like a goddess," he recalled.

"I kind of felt like one. A pampered, decadent goddess."

"That does sound rather erotic."

"Hmmm mmmm," she purred. "In fact, when I think about it, it takes me back to that exact feeling. Mever duplicated."

"Oh really?" Sean said, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

"Can't be repeated."

"Sounds challenging," he said, pulling the covers back and drawing her to him.

"Because I don't have that measure of self-control now. I'm not sure I have that. It was like an anomaly. When I think about it, I just want to wrap my body around you and make you lose your focus."

"That sounds good too," he said, bending over to nuzzle and kiss and lick her neck.

"Indubitably," she replied, wrapping her body around him.

Across town, Ellie's on her bed thinking of her own romantic encounters when a knock at the door pulls her out of her reverie. She gets up and opens it. Sean leans against the door frame.

"Back for another argument?" she asked.

He shook his head, coming inside and closing the door behind him.

"Then what?"

He took her in his arms and kissed her deeply. She reacts to it at first, then pulls back.

"You asleep?"

"No, are you?" he asked.

"Wake up!" she said loudly.

"I am up!" he responded, backing her to the bed and falling down on it with her.

At the penthouse, Sean and Tiffany are contentedly lying in each others' arms.

"You win this round, but I'm not going to give up trying," he said, stroking her arm.

"I can live with that," she responded.

"You are the perfect woman," he said, kissing her.

"Funny you should say that," she replied after they drew away from each other.

"Why's that funny?"

"Maren was using that word to describe us earlier. She ... heard our conversation."

"She knows about..." Sean said, becoming flustered.

"Yes. And she was more than a little upset."

"That's my fault. I should have been here to talk about it with her."

"No, it's OK. It went as well as can be expected, I guess. I mean, how do you explain the things that happen between men and women, even us?"

"Destroyed a couple of illusions, I'm sure," he said thoughtfully.

"Yes, but she's growing up, and it was bound to happen one way or the other."

"She'll never look at me the same way again, I'm sure."

"I'm not sure that's true. I think she'll be a little wiser ... just like we were after it all happened. She loves you, Sean. That's not going to change."

"I just might not be her hero any more."

"I think you will be. Just a different kind of hero," she said consolingly.

"One with flaws," he added,

"The most interesting ones are," she said.

"You have the most unique ways of looking at things. Always loved that about you," he said. "One of many, many, many ... many things."

He kisses her deeply and they nestle back in each others' arms.

At Ellie's apartment, she's lying in bed with Sean.

"I have some news that I think you might not take so well," he said.

"Then by all means, don't say it."

"I have to. I ... I need to spend some time with my daughter. Won't be able to see you for a while."

"So this was just a farewell roll in the hay?"

"I don't think I would have put it that way."

"You didn't have to."

"I'll be back. I just need some time."

Ellie nodded knowingly. "That's what happens when you get involved with an unobtainable man."

"I think I'm obtainable."

"I know you do. Just not at this juncture."

"Think I'm going to leave all this behind for too long?"

"All what?"

"You're good for me. You keep me on my toes."

"And off your toes entirely some of the time," she retorted.

"See what I mean?" he winked as he gets out of bed and starts dressing.

"I'll be here," she said.

"You can stay exactly where you are if you want," he suggested.

"I might need to get up to use the bathroom or something."

"If you think that's best."

He crosses to her, kisses her and makes his way out of the apartment. She leans back in bed.

"Maybe I am the one who is asleep," she said, and then promptly dozes off.


	63. Chapter 63

Sean and Tiffany are sitting down to dinner later that night when Maren and Royce come into the dining room.

"Hi, you two," Tiffany said, eyes twinkling, partly because of her afternoon and partly at the sight of them together.

"Hi," Maren said, looking at her and avoiding looking at her dad. Everyone takes notice of that.

"How's business?" Tiffany asked.

"Fine, fine," Royce said.

"Ellie come in today?" Sean asked.

"No, she didn't," Royce replied.

"I think we might want to consider going on the offensive here," Tiffany said.

"My thoughts exactly," Maren added.

"In what sense?" Sean asked.

"Well, we know you're not the father of her baby," Tiffany continued. The other three pairs of eyes in the room betrayed her position. "OK, I know it. You all have to be convinced. So let's convince you."

"How?" Sean asked.

"Let's find out who it could be," she said. "We know she had a relationship in Boston that ended badly before she moved here with us."

"We don't even know the guy's name," Sean said.

"It should be easily enough found out," Tiffany said. "We do have some investigators in this room, right?"

"Right," Maren said.

"I think she meant me and your father," Royce said.

"She's still right," Maren said, smirking at Royce.

"Sean, remember that time when she called out sick for like a month?" Tiffany asked.

"Of course. Only time she's ever done that," Sean said. "She comes in if she's hacking up a lung."

"And she's only taken vacations when we have," Tiffany added. "So we can start with those periods of time, particularly that month she disappeared, when was that like a year or two ago?"

"Should be easy enough to figure out on the computer, since I didn't keep great files during that time."

"I can work on that," Maren said brightly.

"Good, sweetheart," Tiffany said. "It's a start, right?"

"It's certainly better than sitting around waiting for another shoe to drop," Sean said, looking at Maren.

Ellie's lying in bed at her apartment, when she hears the door open. It's Sean.

"How did you get in here?" she asked, disoriented.

"I have my ways," he said.

"Didn't you just leave me?"

"Well, I'm back. Told you I wouldn't be able to stay away for too long," he said disarmingly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Now I know why I fell for you ... you are so smooth," she said.

"Thank you," he said.

"I'm not sure you're welcome," she replied. "But it's the first thing I noticed about you. Remember my interview?"

"Very well," he said. "That awful matron's suit you were wearing."

"You sent me off to one of the best shops in Boston with a blank check. I felt like Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" or something. But I just wanted to be around you. I probably would have worked for you for nothing," she continued.

"I wouldn't have let you," he said.

"The only working woman in the world who doesn't worry about her salary being commensurate with her work." she said.

"Didn't Tiffany and Maren burst in in the middle of the interview?" he asked.

"Yeah, they did. Maren was adorable, just climbing all over you. And your wife ... ever so elegant and charming. The perfect family."

Maren and Sean gaze at each other as they both consider the ramifications of her last statement.

Back at the penthouse, Tiffany and Sean are alone in the kitchen.

"You're going to have to speak directly to your daughter at some point, Sean."

"I know that," he said. "I'm just not sure how to go about doing it."

"She's the same person she was when you woke up this morning."

"I'm not sure that's the case," he said.

"OK, but that same little girl is in there somewhere."

"I certainly hope so."

"I know so," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

Sean wraps an arm around her, which she pats sympathetically, then goes to find his daughter. He climbs the stairs and hears her typing away on the computer. He knocks on the door.

"Yeah?" Maren replied with a hint of impatience.

"May I come in?" he asked.

Maren bites her lip. "I guess so," she said, still fidgeting with the computer. "I figured out how to access all your company's records from here."

"That's impressive."

"Wasn't too difficult once I found Ellie's login information in her desk today."

"Maren, you don't have to do that right now."

"I want to," she said distractedly.

"I'd like to talk to you," he said gently.

Maren sniffed. "Can't have everything we want, I guess. I'd like to talk to my old dad."

Sean choked up. "Like it or not, honey, he's me."

She turned to face him, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, Daddy," she said and buried her face in his arms.

"I'm glad you still need me, baby," he said, tears burning his own eyes.

"I'll always need you," she burbled. "I just don't understand you."

"I'm not sure it's as easy as all that," Sean said. "It was the biggest mistake I ever made. It hurt your mother more than you or me will ever know and I'm very lucky that she forgave me. But she did and she never dwells on it. Now, I guess, I'm hoping you can do the same."

Maren wiped her eyes and looked at him. "If Mom did, I suppose I have to."

"It's your own choice, that's what being a grownup is all about," he said.

"I thought it was about staying out late and eating ice cream for breakfast," she said.

"That too. This is just the less fun part of it."

"I don't think it's really up to me to forgive you for something that happened before I was even born," Maren said.

"You've got to trust things you feel in your heart, baby. If you're ashamed or embarrassed, then that's the way you feel about it. You don't have to decide today or tomorrow. But know I'll love you anyway, no matter what you decide."

"My heart just knows that it loves you so much," Maren said, holding on to him as tightly as she could. Sean closes his eyes and cradles her in his arms.


	64. Chapter 64

Ellie and Sean are lying side by side on her bed.

"What else did you think about me when we first met?" he asked.

"You know exactly what I thought, just like you know exactly what every woman is thinking when they look into your big brown eyes," she said.

"Hmmm, gotta like that," he said. "So now what?"

"Well, I'm kind of hungry. They say I've got to keep my strength up."

"I can help with that," he said.

"You can? Call Kelly's and get a delivery?"

"Nope, I just happened to have a little picnic right here with me." He opens her front door, picks up a basket sitting off to the side and brings it into the apartment.

"You think of everything."

"Have to care of the little mama," he said.

"What about your family, Sean?" she inquired, suspicious that he would be there with her after being so adamant about not having the slightest desire to leave his family.

"What about them?"

"You know, I never intended to hurt them. I love them too," she said genuinely. "You are truly three of my favorite people on Earth."

"Then what did you intend?" he asked.

"I don't know. I guess, in my warped way, I wanted to be part of it," Ellie replied.

"At least you recognize that as warped."

"I recognize that trying to separate you from the two people you love most in life is never going to work."

"Isn't that what you just did?" he asked.

"Tiffany didn't exactly look like she was running for the door."

"No," Sean smiled with admiration for his wife, making Ellie's heart sink a little. "She's a stubborn one."

"We'll see how stubborn she is when another little Donely pops out seven months from now," Ellie said angrily.

Back at the house, the Donelys are in the living room when Royce knocks at the door. Tiffany opens the door for him.

"Hi, sorry to disturb you so late," Royce said. "I've got some leads in Boston and I thought if I headed out there tonight, it would be easier to get a jump on them in the morning."

"What do you have?" Sean inquired.

"Just some names and places to find," he said.

"I could go with you," Maren said.

"No," Royce said.

"No," Sean echoed.

Tiffany remained silent on the issue. Royce and Sean looked at her for support. "No?" she said weakly.

"I'll need your help from the office computer," Royce said.

"Yeah, what about that?" Sean said.

"Yeah," Tiffany said weakly.

"Mom?" Maren demanded, ignoring the other two being more vehement about her not going on the trip.

"I tried to tell you about the 'loner' aspect of the rogue WSB agent, honey," her mother said.

Maren harrumphs. "I'm going to my room. That OK?"

"Fine by me," Royce said.

"Perfectly acceptable to me," Sean said.

"Yeah," Tiffany said weakly.

Maren storms upstairs.

"I'm going to get you some names and numbers of people you can trust in Boston," Sean said.

"There shouldn't be any need for that, I'm just going to be asking questions," Royce said.

"That's true, but it never hurts to be prepared."

"WSB agents are just Boy Scouts that grew up," Tiffany muttered.

"What was that, honey?" Sean asked.

"Nothing, sweetheart. I'm going to our room. That OK?" she said, mirroring her daughter's words.

Sean looks at her suspiciously. She raises her eyebrows at him. He nods and she heads upstairs.

Back in the studio apartment, Ellie and Sean are lying side by side again. She looks around suspiciously.

"What happened to the picnic basket?" she asked.

"We ate it," Sean said.

"We didn't eat the basket," she said.

"Oh, I put it outside," he said, going to the front door, opening it and lifting the basket at the side of the door.

Ellie's eyebrows narrow as she tries to remember seeing him put it back out there in the first place. He lies back down next to her.

"Feeling OK?" Sean asked.

"A little bit of a headache. I guess that's normal," she said.

"I know how to make that go away," he said suggestively.

"Haven't you done enough damage?" she teased.

"Not nearly enough," Sean responded.

Ellie squinted, his response again feeling odd to her.

"Here, let me help you get past that," he said, pulling her toward him. She easily falls victim to his advances. He leans her back against the pillows for more. She starts to see someone in her peripheral vision. She eludes Sean long enough to look up and see ... Tiffany!

Royce pulls into a gas station about halfway to Boston. "Fill 'er up, premium please, credit," he said, giving the attendant his card.

The attendant does as instructed. "The person doubled over in your back seat ... tell them to drink a lot of water and the headache won't be as bad tomorrow," he said as he hands over the receipt.

Royce eyes him questioningly, as he starts the car. Maren pops up from the back.

"Hi there!"

"What are you doing here?" Royce exclaimed.

"Helping," Maren said plaintively.

"Didn't we say you could be a bigger help back in the office?"

She lifts up her computer bag. "Brought my laptop. No need. And now you're so far away from Port Charles that there's not much you can do about it."

"I could put you on the next train back," Royce said.

"You could. But you're not going to, are you?" Maren asked, already knowing the answer.

"Gotta call your parents right away," he said, pulling out his cell phone.

"No need," Maren replied. "Mom knows I'm with you."


	65. Chapter 65

Ellie's transfixed by the sight of Tiffany in her room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I was wondering that myself," Tiffany said, looking down at her apparel - a pink sweatsuit. "Are you kidding me? This is how you see me?"

"I think it helps her," Sean chuckled.

"I knew something was a little off here," Ellie said. "You got in here without me opening the door. And that picnic basket just disappearing and reappearing was deeply weird."

"Tell-tale clues if you ask me," Sean said.

"What is it exactly that you want?" Ellie asked.

"Beyond a change of clothing, I'm not quite sure," Tiffany said.

"I think you look beautiful, honey," Sean said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"Would you mind cutting that out, please," Ellie pleaded.

"I don't think it's our option," Sean said.

"What? You mean ... it's me," Ellie said sadly. "It's starting again, isn't it?"

Sean and Tiffany both nod at her comfortingly. Ellie closes her eyes. When she opens them what she thinks is a minute later, she's alone. She clutches at her pillow.

The next morning, Royce and Maren arrive in Boston. He looks over at her as he turns off the ignition, she's sleeping soundly against the door.

"We're here," he said.

Maren springs to life. "Wow, that was quick," she said.

"Quick for those of us sleeping most of the way," he quipped.

"I was just resting my eyes."

"Yeah, sure, do you always snore when you're resting your eyes?"

"Excuse me, I do not snore," she said indignantly.

"You do. Soft little girl snores. Very cute."

Maren wrinkles her face at him. That's cute too, Royce thinks.

"Where are we?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Ellie's apartment. Thought we could get a lead on this boyfriend."

She gets out of the car and looks around. "Weird. I knew her for 10 years. I don't think I was ever here."

They go into the apartment building, Royce scours the mailboxes for a name. He finds it - Sam Whitmore, Apartment 1C. They walk down the hallway, Royce knocks on the door.

"Yeah, hold on a minute," a voice said from inside. The door opens, and a gruff 50-something man looks at them. "You two looking for an apartment? We should have a vacancy in a couple weeks."

Maren blushes.

"Uh no, sir," Royce said. "We're looking for some information on one of your former tenants."

"They don't really leave forwarding information with me," he said.

"No, it's not that. Ellie Atwood, remember her?"

"Of course, I do. One of the best tenants we ever had. Except for that one incident, we never had a problem with her."

"Incident?" Royce asked.

"Had to call the cops once, some kind of fight with her boyfriend. Got very violent. They hauled him on out of here."

"You wouldn't, by chance, remember his name, would you?"

"I would," a raspy female voice said behind him. "Frank Herbert."

"You're sure of that, ma'am?" Royce said.

"Yes, I am. We had to swear out a complaint against him. Stayed all night in the police station waiting to do that."

"Do you know where he lived or worked or anything like that?" Royce asked.

"Can't say that I do," the woman said. "All I know is his name. Didn't do much good. After she got out of the hospital, Ms. Atwood didn't even press charges and they dismissed the case even though we had made the complaint."

"The hospital?" Maren asked.

"He roughed her up pretty good. She was in there about two weeks, I think," the woman said.

"Thank you very much for your time," Royce said. "Sorry to have bothered you."

The super slams the door in their faces. Royce and Maren look at each other and then leave the building.

"OK, kid, fire up that computer of yours and let's see if we can get a lead on this Frank Herbert."

"Don't you need some rest first?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said.

They returned to the car, Maren pulled her laptop out of the bag and powered it on.

Ellie awakens with a start in her apartment. She gets out of bed, uses the bathroom and crawls back in her bed ... where she's promptly joined by Sean and Tiffany.

"Morning!" Sean said brightly on her left side.

"Now what am I wearing?" Tiffany said indignantly to her right, looking down at her frilly pink pajamas. "This is ridiculous."

"I think you look pretty damn cute," Sean said.

"Thank you, sweetheart," his wife said. They leaned across Ellie to kiss.

"Can't you two do that in the privacy of your own bedroom?" Ellie asked.

Tiffany reaches up to adjust her hair. "What? Pigtails? I didn't wear pigtails when I was 8 years old!"

"She's really doing her best to make you look unappealing, sweetheart," Sean said.

"Obviously," Tiffany retorted.

"Unfortunately, it's not working. In fact, don't take this the wrong way, but it's kind of a turn-on."

Both Tiffany and Ellie look at him like he's disturbed.

"I've got to figure this out," Ellie said.

"What's to figure out?" Sean replied. "You said it yourself, you're kind of in love with my whole family. I'm surprised you aren't having an affair with Tiffany too."

"Wait a minute," Ellie said. "Now OK, you're obviously figments of my imagination. But I am pregnant, and you're the father."

"She's got you on points," Tiffany said.

"That's true," Sean said.

"Look at her belly, it's already getting bigger," Tiff said, exposing the area between Ellie's t-shirt and her sleep pants.

"Hmmmm," Sean said, looking sideways at it. "Guess it's hard to argue with that."

Tiffany nods her head disappointingly. "You're sure it was him?" she asked Ellie.

"Of course I'm sure. I'm not hallucinating. It's not a hysterical pregnancy. Go look at the stick if you want, it's in the bathroom."

"What were you going to do, hold on to it as a keepsake? Tiffany said, disgusted.

"Well, I'm a detective, I'll just have to figure this one out," Sean said.

"I know you will, honey," Tiffany said, beaming at him.

"Thank you, snook'ums," he replied and they leaned over Ellie and started kissing again.


	66. Chapter 66

Royce and Maren arrive at a factory after finding out Frank Herbert might be working there over the Internet.

"I think you should stay here," Royce said.

"Royce, no!" Maren said. "You need backup. What if he's dangerous?"

"He's not going to be dangerous, he's not expecting anyone to come in asking questions about him, I'd feel better if you stayed here."

"Well, I'm not going to, I'm going to follow you, so you might as well just let me come with you."

Royce rolls his eyes and wonders when the next bus to Port Charles is leaving.

"Look, I won't say or do anything," Maren said. "But I'm a brown belt. If you need eyes in the back of your head for any reason, I can be them. That's all."

"OK, but I'm serious, Maren, I'm handling this. Don't get in the way."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she said.

They enter the warehouse, Royce asks the first person he sees if Frank Herbert is there and he's pointed toward a large furniture showroom. They walk in that direction.

"We're looking for Frank Herbert," he said to the first person he sees when they get into the room.

"Who's looking for Frank Herbert?" a small squinty man with glasses asked.

"We're friends of a friend," Royce said. "Someone he hasn't seen in a while."

"Does this person have a name?" the man asked.

Maren eyes the guy suspiciously and something clicks in her head. "Royce," she said.

"Just a second," Royce said to Maren, before turning back to the man. "Just an old acquaintance looking to renew ties."

"Is it the usual method for friends to find people they used to know through third parties?" the man asked.

"Royce!" Maren said more firmly.

"She just wanted to make sure that he wanted to see her, I guess. Her name's Ellie Atwood," Royce said.

"That's him!" Maren said. As Royce turns slightly to look at her, Frank hits him from behind with a tape measure and takes off. Royce doubles over and Maren kneels down to tend to him.

"Are you OK?" she said worriedly.

"I'm fine, takes more than that little runt to keep me down," Royce said.

"Sorry about that, I just realized he was the guy on the Net without his glasses on ... right before he clocked you."

"We have to work on your timing," he quipped weakly.

"We should get you to the hospital," she said.

"No, it's not necessary ... I don't need ..." he said, stopping in midstream.

"Royce, what is it?" Maren said, panicked.

"Yes, I think we should go to the hospital, right away," he said as she helps him to his feet.

Half an hour later, Royce and Maren enter the emergency room of Boston Memorial.

"This is where I was born," she said.

"Interesting mental picture," he said.

"How do we know this is even the right hospital?" she said.

"We don't, I guess we'll just go to everyone we have to until we find the right one," Royce said.

"This is impossible," she said. "What if I get caught?"

"Then your dad will have both our hides, I'm sure, just do what I said. Go to every floor until you find one where not much is going on. Find a room with a sleeping patient, ring for the nurse. You won't have much time. Every hospital has a main patient archive, it should be easy enough for a whiz like you to find. Just look for Ellie's name and anything you can find out about why she was here."

"OK, I'll try," she said.

"Good girl," he said, then realizes he sounded condescending. He pulls her to him and kisses her on the lips. "You can do it," he said after they separate.

She nods and heads up the elevator as he goes to the main desk of the emergency room. A bunch of other people get in with her, she waits to see the floors they choose and then picks one they didn't - six.

It was a good choice, there's not much activity on the floor. In fact, there's no one behind the desk when she gets there and the computer's on. She starts searching the hard drive and finds the archive in a folder on the desktop.

"One point for Royce Stanton," she said to herself.

Maren opens it up and looks through the A's. She finds "Ellie Atwood" and looks around her before opening up the folder. Under diagnosis, she finds "subdural hematoma" caused by a blunt trauma to the head. Then a bunch of medical terms she couldn't possibly memorize. Below that it says a "crainotomy" couldn't be performed at the time due to location of the wound. She hits the button for printout.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" a nurse said behind her.

"I'm sorry, I'm from Admissions, I didn't want to go all the way back downstairs to my computer, I was going to ask if I could use your computer but no one was here," Maren covered. She stealthily closed the folders she was looking at as she talked to the nurse.

"Totally understandable," the nurse said. "It's a zoo around here." As if on cue, one of the patient's lights went off on the main frame.

"I see what you mean," Maren said sympathetically as the nurse ran off. She exhales deeply when the woman was out of range, grabbing the printout and hurrying back to the elevator. She takes an even deeper breath when the doors close and she's safely inside.

She finds Royce in the emergency waiting room when she gets to the ground floor and brightly shows off the paper in her hand.

"I can't believe it," he said.

"Believe it," she replied.

"Let's go," he said.

"What about your head?"

"Still attached to my body. I thought I was going to have to be here for hours while you found a viable computer."

"I think luck was with us... and I'm fortunate I look older than I am, I think," she said. "I don't think I would have gotten away with it if I looked my age."

"Yeah, fortunate," Royce said mournfully, thinking of how things might be different between them if she was older.

When they're outside, he takes the paper from her and scans it quickly. "Head injury caused by blunt trauma. Suffered some delusion. They never operated."

"She could be having delusions again!" Maren yelled. "She thinks it was my dad but it wasn't him, right?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, we don't know anything for sure," Royce said. "This could be an explanation, yes. But this could be totally unrelated."

"It's not unrelated," Maren said. "Mom was right."


	67. Chapter 67

Royce and Maren return to the Donelys penthouse after their long trip back, tired but happy that they came up with results.

"Hi!" Maren exclaimed, rushing to hug her parents.

"Hi!" Sean said mock-cheerfully. "Boy are you in trouble, young lady."

"Why? Mom knew where I was," she explained.

Sean looks at Tiffany sharply, she shrugs at him and smiles.

"So Ellie suffered a head trauma, and the hypothesis we're going to go with is that she's having delusions again," Sean said.

"It's a possibility," Royce said.

"Yes, it is. But we haven't seen any signs of it since this incident happened," Sean said.

"According to the records, she was released from the hospital after the swelling went down. But they didn't operate and so she wasn't cured," Royce said.

"Well, she can't undergo surgery for it now in her condition," Tiffany said.

"If there is a condition," Maren said. "She could have imagined that as well."

"I know she was ill the last day she came in to work," Royce said.

"It could be all in her head, I looked it up. Hysterical pregnancy," Maren said.

"OK, so she needs to be checked out on both fronts," Tiffany said. "How do we do it?"

"I do it," Sean said. "I'll get her to go to the hospital."

"It's just going to promote the delusion, Sean," Tiffany said.

"There's at least one life we have to worry about here," he replied. "A subdural hematoma can be lethal. I can't let that happen to her if I can do anything to prevent it."

Tiffany, Royce and Maren nod in agreement.

Ellie's on her bed with the television tuned to "Oprah" when Sean knocks at her door.

"Come in," she said.

He turns the knob. "It's locked," he told her.

She sighs and gets up off the bed to let him in. "So, can't you just come in anyway like you usually do?" she asked.

Sean's not sure how to answer that.

"Where's Tiffany?" Ellie asked.

"At home," Sean responded.

"Not going to pop in here in something pink?"

"She's not a big fan of pink," he said, trying not to upset her, but not really understanding the way the conversation is going.

"Yeah, I got that impression. So what's on the agenda for today?"

"I'd like to take you to the hospital," Sean said gently.

"Uh, why?" Ellie said.

"You should be under a doctor's care if you're pregnant," he said.

"What do you mean 'if I'm pregnant'? I'm pregnant all right," she said, exposing her belly bump.

"Then you definitely need to see a doctor," he replied.

"I think I can handle that."

"I don't mind taking you. And our insurance policy definitely covers it," Sean said.

"Shouldn't your mind be on something more ... horizontal?" she asked, looking over at the bed. "Especially if Pinky isn't putting in an appearance."

"No, it's on looking after you," he said.

Ellie starts to realize that the real Sean is in her apartment.

"I guess I probably should do that," she agreed.

"Great. Want me to wait outside?" he asked.

"No, there's no need," she said. "I'll just be a minute."

She goes to the closet and takes out a blouse and some pants, then goes into the bathroom.

Half an hour later, they're at General Hospital. Sean has dropped Ellie off at the obstetrician's office, now he's talking with Robin about his concerns.

"Sweetheart, we need you to make sure that the doctor is aware of her complete history. We don't know if she'll talk about her hospitalization a couple of years ago, but it could impact her treatment," Sean said.

"Why wouldn't she put that on her form?" Robin asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's something that she kept from me for a long time. Actually we're afraid that she might be suffering from that problem again, apparently she hemorrhaged after being struck in the head by a blunt object."

"That's not something we'll be able to quantify if she's pregnant, Uncle Sean."

"I know that, honey, but I don't want it adversely affecting her condition either if she is."

"I understand. I'll consult with the doctor after she's through. We might want to call in Patrick's dad too if that's the case."

"I should have thought of that. Great idea, thanks."

Sean's phone starts to play "When a Man Loves a Woman."

"Hi honey," he said. "Yeah, I got her here with no problem. She was a little out of it. I feel bad that we didn't notice something was wrong sooner."

"Sweetheart, there might not have been any sign at the time," Tiffany said. "You're very observant. If she was losing it, you would have noticed."

"I know, I just can't help feeling this is my fault," he said.

"You always say that when someone's in pain," his wife said.

"And you always tell me it's not my fault."

"It's in the handbook, I have to. I'll see you when you get home. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart," he said and hangs up. He goes back up to the fifth floor to wait for Ellie.

Robin comes up to Sean half an hour later.

"Uncle Sean, they're admitting Ellie."

"What happened?"

"Apparently she was showing abnormal movement of the eyes when the doctor was checking her out," Robin said. "She told him about her history. He wants to admit her for observation."

"Do you know where she is now?" he asked.

"She's still in his office. They're prepping a room for her."

"Would it be OK if I go see her?"

"I think so. Go ahead, hopefully it'll help settle her down."

Sean goes into the obstetrician's office, tells his assistant he's looking for Ellie and is shown back to her room. She's lying face up on the table, tears running down her face.

"Ellie? Hey, it's OK. You'll be fine."

"No, you don't know," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. ... I was embarrassed."

"I know," Sean said gently, taking her hand. "It's all right. We're going to take care of you. We'll get you the best care. Not going to let anything happen to you."

"Or the baby? I really want this baby," she cried.

Sean had a painful sense of deja vu. He could barely get the words out. "Or the baby."


	68. Chapter 68

Tiffany, Maren and Royce are in the living room of the penthouse. Maren's typing away on her computer, Royce is watching over her shoulder. Tiffany is pacing.

"Your father should have been back by now," Tiffany said.

"Don't worry, Mom, if something was up he would have called," Maren said.

Tiffany's phone starts playing "You Are So Beautiful," the ringtone she changed it too after getting her new phone.

"Mom, that song is so old-fashioned. That guy has a weird voice, very scratchy," Maren said.

"I know, honey," her mother replied. "That song just has special significance to me." She smiles while recalling a very particular memory.

"I guess so," Maren said to Royce after seeing that reaction.

"Hi, sweetheart," Tiffany said after connecting the call.

"Hon, Ellie's been admitted to the hospital," Sean said.

"What happened?"

"The doctor saw something he didn't like while he was doing her exam," Sean said.

"Is she going to be all right?"

"They don't know yet. They've called Noah in."

"OK, do you want me to come down there?"

Sean hesitates, not wanting to put his wife into more pain than he has to. Tiffany picks up on it.

"I'm coming down there," she said, hanging up before Sean could argue with her about it. She hurriedly gets her purse. "You'll be here?" she asked, mostly to Royce.

"Yes," Maren said. "Call when you know something, OK?"

"I will," Tiffany said, kissing her daughter and running out the door.

Maren rubbed her temples. "This is such a mess," she said.

"At least it's less of a mess than it was before," Royce said.

"I'm not sure that's true," she said, getting up from the computer and flopping onto the couch.

"It's best not to worry about things you can't control," he said, sitting down next to her.

"Then I would never have to worry about anything," she responded. "Maybe we should have gone."

"I don't think there's much we can do."

"No, because of you. You still need to be checked out yourself. Don't want you blacking out and going into a coma."

"Aww, that's so sweet," he retorted. "But I'm fine."

"Let me look at it," she said.

"Maren Donely ... computer wiz by day, nurse by night," he said.

"Just let me see it," she said, pulling his head over her lap so he didn't have a choice either way. "Hmmm, I'm going to get something to clean it up, make sure it doesn't get infected."

She pushes him off her and gets up to go to the bathroom for supplies.

At the hospital, Sean's in the room with Ellie when the doctor comes in.

"Because of your condition, we did a rush on the lab test, it does confirm you are pregnant," he said.

Ellie nods and Sean grimaces reflexively.

"But we can't run a CAT scan or an X-ray or anything on your brain to see how much of a change there has been to the damaged area," he said. "We're going to give you a cortisone local, that'll reduce the inflammation and hopefully make it more comfortable for you."

"OK, thank you," Ellie said.

"Yes, thank you, doctor," Sean echoed.

"I'll be back to check on you a little later," he said. "Dr. Drake's flying in from Atlanta, so that should give us more of an idea of our options."

The doctor departs, Sean pulls a chair over from the corner and sits by Ellie's bed.

"Is there anything you need, anything you want?" he asked.

"I can't have what I want," she said sadly.

"I'm sorry," Sean said.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about apparently," Ellie said. "I can't believe you're here trying to help me after what I said. I just ... I just want you to know, I thought it was the truth."

"I know you did," he said.

"I guess I didn't look at all the signs that it was otherwise," she said. "I'm sorry for what I said, what I did."

"It's all right, Ellie," Sean said.

"Are you real? Because I have a hard time believing you could forgive me this easily. Maybe it's the aneurysm."

"It's not. I can't fault you for something that was beyond your control."

"You can, you just choose not to," she clarified.

"OK, I choose not to."

Tiffany enters the room. "How are we doing?" she asked.

Ellie looks up at her sorrowfully. "Another person I need to apologize to. I'm sorry, Mrs. Donely."

"When did I become Mrs. Donely?"

"I think it was December 1988, honey, I know it's hard to remember back that far," Sean said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I've been ma'am or Mrs. D to you for 10 years and I expect that trend to continue," Tiffany said.

"You too are being exceptionally nice. Is that because my condition is critical?" she asked. Sean and Tiffany look at each other, even they're not sure.

Back at the penthouse, Maren's treating Royce's wound. He's kind of enjoying her pampering.

"Hope that doesn't sting too much," she said.

"I hadn't noticed," Royce said.

"WSB handbook, right? Don't show any reaction to pain."

"I'm not having any pain."

"Then your head is harder than I thought it was," she said, finishing up and getting up to throw the cloth in a wastebasket.

"This might be true," he said.

"I was so scared when he hit you," she said, trembling a little with the memory. "For this split-second, I was afraid you weren't going to get up. I think I lived a lifetime in that second, trying to think of what I should do."

He gets up and pulls her into his arms. She clings tightly as the memory brings tears to her eyes.

"You didn't show it," he said. "You were so cool under pressure."

"I think it was shock," she said.

"Either way, it worked. And then what you did at the hospital ... well, that's what really knocked me out - if you'll excuse the expression."

"My heart was beating so hard the whole time, I was sure I was going to be found out."

"You're really incredible, you know," he said, fixing a stray hair on her head. They stare at each other for a moment.

"I think this is when you're supposed to kiss me," she said.

Royce continued to look at her, mulling that one over in his mind. He was living his own lifetime in that moment.


	69. Chapter 69

Royce stared back at Maren, so many things going through his head at once. Her young age, the fact that she hadn't experienced much of life yet. And the basic knowledge that since the moment he had first seen her when he was undercover all those months ago, he felt some kind of need to protect her. He almost blew the whole operation with Sasha when he wanted to take her as a hostage, just to protect one girl he had never met before. She was important to him then, and now that he knew her better and she was growing into a spirited and downright gorgeous young woman, those feelings ran much deeper.

"OK, nevermind," Maren said.

"Maren, I..." Royce started, and he didn't even really know what he planned to say to make either of them feel better.

"I said forget it," she said, and started to go upstairs. She turned around and came back down when she got halfway up. "I don't understand you at all. Not the slightest bit. I thought I did, I thought we were getting to know each other, but then you do this thing where you totally clam up and won't even say what you're thinking. You make it impossible, which I guess is the way you want it."

She heads back up the stairs and, this time, she disappears into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Royce looks after her, wanting some magic words to tell her. But even without her in the room, he doesn't have any.

At the hospital, Tiffany and Sean are sitting with Ellie.

"We're not here because your condition is critical," Sean said to her.

"We're here because we care about what happens to you," Tiffany said.

"I don't want to lose my baby," Ellie said, tears coming to her eyes.

Tiffany turns away, remembering how lost and alone she felt when she had her own miscarriage. Sean comes up behind her and puts his arms around her.

"It's OK, sweetheart, I'm here," Sean said.

Tiffany swallows, fighting back her own tears, and turns back to Ellie. "It's really important that you stay as calm as you can. And don't think about what could happen."

Sean has taken her hand in his own.

"Dr. Drake's on his way and look what he did for me," Tiffany said. "It looked pretty bleak for me and he patched me up like new."

"But if the aneurysm's back..." Ellie started.

"If it's back, they'll deal with it the best way they can," Sean said. "They have lots of things they can do, treatments that won't harm the baby."

"I don't see how..."

"He's the top surgeon in this field, he probably knows a lot better than we do," Tiff said.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Sean said. "We'll be here if you need us, OK?"

"I still can't believe that," Ellie said.

"Well, believe it, 'cause it's true," Tiff said, rubbing her shoulder before leaving the room still hand in hand with Sean. Outside the door, she slips into his arms and starts crying.

A little while later, Ellie's just closed her eyes when Sean and Tiffany come back in.

"I really think we should tell her the truth," Sean said.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea," Tiffany replied.

"She's going to figure it out sooner or later," Sean said.

"You're probably right," Tiff said.

"Would you please stop talking like I'm not even here?" Ellie said.

"OK," Sean said, plopping into the bed next to her. "It doesn't look good for you."

"What?" Ellie cried.

Tiffany jumps in on the other side. "You're the one who wanted the truth. Now you can't take it?"

"Maybe that's too much truth," Ellie said.

"You've got to face facts... it's more like 20-80 instead of a 50-50 chance," Sean said.

"Is that why I'm wearing lime green? I mean, come ... on," Tiffany added, clearly irked. "A lime green jumpsuit? This woman is sicker than anyone knows."

"Have you had any more thoughts on who the father might be?" Sean asked.

"Sean, that's kind of a harsh way to say that," Tiff chides.

"Well, I know it's not me," he said.

"I know, little lovebug," Tiff said and they're leaning over Ellie to kiss again.

"I thought maybe she might want to crack that code before this baby pops out," Sean said. "Any candidates, El?"

Ellie shakes her head weakly and closes her eyes. When she opens them, no one else is there.

The Donelys are exhausted and strung out on coffee by the time Noah gets there. He greets them warmly, then excuses himself to go check in on Ellie.

"I don't know what he's going to be able to do for her," Tiffany said.

"I was thinking that myself," Sean replied.

"OK, let's start thinking about what we can do for her then," she said.

"What do you have mind?"

"Well, there are two main things - take care of her physically and try to solve this big mystery of who the father could be," Tiff said.

"I don't think either one's going to be easy," he said.

"No, but I think we'd both beat ourselves up if we didn't at least try," she said.

Tiffany's phone rings... "Isn't She Lovely" playing on it.

"Hi sweetheart," she said.

"Mom, I'm sorry to disturb you while you're at the hospital and what's new with Ellie and could you come home please?" Maren said in one long breath.

Tiff looks at her husband, bites her lip and squints. "Go ahead, honey, I'll stay here," Sean said.

"I'll be right there, honey." She hangs up and moves into Sean's arms for a good long hug. She walks her to the elevator and kisses her right before she gets into it. Then he goes back in the waiting area and sits down again with his styrofoam cup of coffee.

Tiffany opens the front door and sees Royce on the couch. He stands up, still looking like he's not able to form coherent sentences.

"Thanks for staying with her, Royce," she said.

"Not a problem, Mrs. Donely," he said and quickly departs.

Tiffany heads up to Maren's room. She does the secret knock on the door and enters. "Hi baby," she said. "Judging by the rattled condition of the seemingly unflappable Mr. Stanton, I'd say you had an argument of some sort?"

"How can I have an argument with someone who won't tell me anything?" Maren asked.

Tiff shakes her head and sits down on the bed. "I can't tell you how familiar this seems to me."

"Yeah, I know, I know. Strong silent type, blah, blah, blah."

"You know it took an awful long time for your dad to realize he was really in love with me," she said.

"But you knew it?" Maren asked.

"Yeah, I did. ... Do you think you're in love with Royce?"

"Doesn't he have to give me the time of day before I figure that out?"

"He does give you the time of day. He just doesn't always wind his watch, honey."

"I'm not sure what that means, Mom."

"It means that you're in his head and probably in his heart. He's just trying to figure things out ... connect the dots. The problem is it's easy to say 'just wait and see' and a heckuva lot harder to actually do it."

"I don't get it, wouldn't it better to actually try and maybe have some fun at the same time? See if we are actually simpatico instead of ... whatever it is we're doing?"

"Well, yes, it probably would," her mother said, playing with Maren's hair the way Sean always smoothed hers. "All I can say is this ... I think he'll be worth it, if you let him do things at his pace. And it'll be better for it, believe me. Guys who think they've pushed into things kind of tend to run away faster."

"It's so complicated," Maren harrumphed. "I'd just like to, you know, have dinner, maybe see a movie, walk on the docks and talk..."

"Maybe kiss a little?" Tiff interjected.

Maren blushes. "Not out of the realm of possibility," she said.

"He a good kisser?"

"Mom!"

"Your dad's a great kisser."

"Mother!"

"Hey, what can I say, those things are important," Tiffany said.

Maren thought back to Royce kissing her the night of her party. She nodded. "He's a great kisser."

"You wouldn't be able to say that if you weren't getting something back from him, you know," Tiff said. "So I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"I'm not worried," she said.

"Just anxious," Tiffany said.

"A little anxious."

"He's not going anywhere."

"I hope not," Maren said, chewing on the edge of her fingernail. Tiffany scowls at her for ruining her manicure. She pulls her hand away from her mouth and into a hug.


	70. Chapter 70

In the next couple of months, not a lot changed on any front. The Donelys continued to watch over Ellie like hawks and she was a handful, because her delusions seemed to switch on and off with no rhyme or reason. Noah Drake wasn't eager to do much about the aneurysm while she was pregnant, but he prepared to do an exploratory laser procedure so he could get a look at the problem area and try to alleviate it as much as possible.

With the holidays approaching, General Hospital was all decked out accordingly. It seems to clash with the serious mood of Sean and Tiffany as they stepped off on her floor on the day of her surgery. They try to bump their energy up a notch as they enter Ellie's room.

"Morning," Sean said brightly.

"Sir, I forgot to send out the monthly invoices," Ellie said, clearly struggling with her time frame.

"It's OK, Ellie, I took care of it," he said. "Don't give it another thought."

"And those papers that needed to go to Scotty Baldwin. I think they're on my desk."

"I'll check on them first thing in the morning," Sean said.

"He has my will in case anything happens," she said.

"He's not in town," Tiffany whispered. "What if she doesn't make it?"

"It's OK," Sean said, sort of to both of them.

"What if your wife finds out, Sean?" Ellie said, now totally out of it.

"We'll work it out," Sean said, looking at Tiffany and shaking his head.

"I'm sorry I got pregnant, I wasn't trying to," she said to him.

"I know that," he replied.

"Mrs. D has always been really good to me and this is how I repay her?" Ellie continued. "And Maren. This is going to break that little girl's heart."

Noah walks in, chart in hand. "How are we doing?"

"She's really out of it, saying a lot of things that don't make sense," Sean told him. "She seems to be sort of mixing up times and places."

"That's not very unusual," Noah said. "We're going to take it very easy with her, monitoring both her and the baby's vital signs. Any signs of trouble and we'll stop what we're doing."

"OK," Sean said.

"It'll probably be only an hour or two, we won't want to go much longer," he said. "Don't worry, this has actually been done before."

Sean nods as the orderlies come in to transfer Ellie to a gurney and take her off to the operating room. Ellie looks up at Sean.

"Worry looks good on you," she smiled weakly.

He chuckled and patted her arm reassuringly. "You're going to be just fine."

The orderlies and Noah leave the room with Ellie. All the air goes out of Sean and Tiffany and they slump over, exhausted from keeping up the front for her and trying to figure out where her focus was going to be next.

"Can I buy you a cup of coffee?" he asked his wife. She nods, he takes her hand and they leave the room.

They are still holding hands hours later in the waiting area when Noah comes over to them.

"It went about as well as can be expected," he said. "She's in recovery now. Should be back in her room within the hour."

"How are Ellie and the baby?" Tiffany asked.

"The hematoma has definitely flared up. We cleaned it out as much as we could, I'm just still not really sure how much is there. I think she'll be better for a few months."

"Which means it could get worse again right about when she's about to deliver?"

"It's hard to say. There's a chance I got it all," Noah said. "She probably should be confined to bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy either way."

"She can stay with us," Tiffany said.

Sean and Noah look at her, surprised. "You can bring in 24-hour care, it'll be just as effective and wouldn't put as much of a burden on you," Noah said.

"That's probably true, but I think it would be better for her to be around people she knows. And as far as we know, we're the closest thing she has to family," Tiffany said.

"Well, we can discuss this more later, the specifics of what she'll need," Noah said, realizing that he should leave them alone to talk. "If everything works out the way I think it will, she should be able to be released in about a week."

"Thanks, Noah," Tiff said as he walks off. She takes a breath before turning back around to Sean. "Look, I know what you're going to say and I really think it's the best thing for Ellie."

"You know what I'm going to say?" he asked.

"Yes, that it's too much of a burden and we might want to consider the round-the-clock nursing since we can certainly afford it," she continued.

"That may have been what I was thinking ... but what I was going to say is that you're the most wonderful soul I had the good fortune to meet, fall in love with and marry," Sean replied.

Tiffany's heart melts. "So we're not going to have a big argument about this?"

"Nope," Sean said. "If that's what you think we should do, that's what we'll do."

She gets a look of mock disappointment on her face.

"You wanted me to talk you out of it?" he asked.

"No, I just wanted to have a fight so we could make up later in the privacy of our own bedroom," she responded.

"Damn, I sure botched that one up but good," he said.

"Perhaps but your proficiency ... in other areas ... makes up for it," she added with a smirk.

"Everybody has a special talent," he replied.

"Yeah, and you have more than one," she said as the two of them enjoy what they expect will be a rare moment of peace and sanity in the upcoming months.


	71. Chapter 71

A week later, Noah is looking over Ellie's chart as everyone waits for his opinion.

"Everything looks good," he said, beaming one of his patented dimpled smiles. "No delusions in the past week, the readings on the baby look solid. I say you're good to go."

"That's wonderful," Tiffany said.

"So I'll go sign off on your release papers and, Sean, can you help me with that?" Noah asked.

Sean eyes him questioningly, but goes along with it. "Sure, no problem," he said. "Be right back."

He steps outside with Noah and raises his eyebrow.

"There's a lot of media outside," Noah said.

"The press?"

"Don't know how they found out about it, but the fact that I conducted brain surgery on a pregnant woman has raised some attention," he explained.

"I guess that makes sense in a weird way."

"It's really not great for Ellie to be rattled right now on any front," Noah said. "We need to keep her as calm and relaxed as possible. It's a lot like Tiffany's condition last year. Irritation in the brain can have an effect on both her and the child."

"I understand," Sean said.

"So why don't you get your car and we'll take her out the emergency room entrance, which they won't be expecting," Noah said.

"Good idea, thanks," Sean said, heading off to the parking lot.

Tiffany's putting Ellie's things together in her hospital room.

"Are you sure this isn't going to be an inconvenience?" Ellie asked. "What am I saying, constant surveillance on a pregnant woman whose head isn't on straight for five months. That's an inconvenience no matter how you look at it."

"Ellie, it's not," Tiff said. "You're family."

"But not really..."

"Come on, who was with me at the hospital when Maren needed the tonsillectomy and Sean was out of the country? Holding my hand, telling me everything was going to be all right, saying everything I needed to hear. That was you."

"That was just human compassion."

"Oh yeah? How about all the times you stayed with her just so Sean and I could go out and have some alone time? You didn't need to do that."

"It wasn't any trouble."

"Maren wasn't any trouble?" Tiffany chided. "I'm finding it hard to believe that one, knowing how that girl always wanted to stay up late, always wanted to have a snack after she had dessert. But every time we came home, there she was, already in bed, looking like a sleeping cherub. ... We're happy to do this for you."

"I appreciate that," Ellie said.

Noah comes into the room with a wheelchair and a clipboard. He has Ellie sign her release papers and then wheels her, with Tiff at his side, to the emergency room. Sean has just pulled up and they get into his car without a problem. Noah pats the car a couple of times after closing the door and speeds off, just as a couple of the media members have gotten a clue and corner him about his patient.

After stopping at Ellie's house to pick up some clothing and other items, the Donelys arrive back home. They walk into a maelstrom though, as the press has crowded into the lobby of their building.

"Ms. Atwood, can you tell us how you're feeling after your tricky surgery?" one asked.

"Feeling very happy to be alive. Very appreciative to my doctor and the fabulous staff at General Hospital, as well as my employer and his family," Ellie said.

"How does the baby's father feel about all of this?" another queried. Ellie freezes. The media pounces upon her hesitation and all start asking questions at once.

"I don't think this is the proper forum for this discussion," Sean said sharply. "Ms. Atwood needs her rest."

"This is news, Donely," one said. "What's the problem, you the father?"

Sean shoves the reporter away, another takes his place asking the same questions. The pretense of manners is dropped.

"Ellie? Ellie? Come on, tell us who the father is."

Ellie remains silent, and Tiffany has to hold her up for support.

"Are you having your boss' baby?" another yelled.

"He does have a history," one said. "You may think we have short memories, Donely, but we also have a pretty good internet archive."

Now it's Tiffany whose head has started spinning. Sean can't get to her, he's separated by several members of the media, who he pushes at to get by.

"District attorney ... Jessica Holmes ... ring any bells?"

"You're going to be hearing bells in a minute," Sean said with increasing rage.

"You're not denying it," another said.

Sean takes a breath, knowing he's not supposed to say anything to jeopardize Ellie's mental condition, but is worrying more about his wife.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Ellie yelled and the lobby grew quiet. At that moment, Maren walks in on the throng.

"Sean Donely is not the father of my baby. Yes, he's the kindest man I've ever known. And maybe some part of me wishes that someone like him was. But he's totally in love with his wife, he's devoted to her and their daughter and any suggestion of otherwise is downright ridiculous."

Sean breathes a sigh of relief. He looks over at Tiffany and she's kind of shell shocked. Maren gets to him and they push their way through the crowd. Sean touches Tiffany's arm, she doesn't really react. He takes hold of Ellie and indicates to Maren that she should take her mother upstairs. Maren's able to get her to the elevator, since the horde of journalists is more focused on Ellie and Sean.

When the doors close, Sean turns back to them. "This little press conference is over. I understand your interest in the medical science here, but Ms. Atwood's personal life is none of anyone's concern except herself. You'll be leaving her alone now."

Sean looks at Ellie supportively and they make their way to the elevator with little resistance from the assembled masses. He gives the throng another strong look as the elevator closes behind them. "You all right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ellie said. "You?"

Sean nods. But he's more concerned about Tiffany at the moment. "I appreciate you saying what you did, Ellie. I'm just not sure it's going to help you."

"As long as it helps you, that's OK by me," she said.

When they get into the penthouse, Maren is chewing on one of her nails on the couch. Sean sits Ellie down on the couch, pulls out a blanket and wraps her in it. He turns to Maren and wordlessly asks her about Tiffany with his eyes.

"She's upstairs, Dad," Maren said. "What happened? She seems kind of out of it. She didn't want me to come in the room."

"Let me go check on her, OK, sweetheart?" Sean asked. "I'll fill you in when I get back down here. Keep Ellie company for me, all right?"

Maren bites her lip and nods. Sean climbs the stairs. He pauses before opening the door to the bedroom. Tiffany is sitting on the edge of the bed, totally still in the dark room.

"Honey?" he asked softly. "Are you all right?"

Tiffany turns her head to him, the movement is so slight and still that it unnerves Sean. She shakes her head no.


	72. Chapter 72

Sean slowly crosses to the bed and sits down, waiting for Tiffany to be able to tell him what she's feeling, although he has a pretty good idea of what it is.

"You know, it's really strange," she said after a couple of minutes. "When the anniversary of ... when we lost him comes up every year, it's sort of like I'm ready for it in a weird way. So I can keep it at some distance. It's only when it hits out of the blue, that I really feel all of it."

"Like when you started getting your memories back," Sean said.

"Yeah," she said, starting to choke up. "And I feel that total sense of hopelessness. Everything I was feeling at the time. I couldn't go on and I didn't want to. The lowest point of my life."

Sean gently takes her hand in his. "I know, honey."

"I couldn't believe you had cheated on me," she continued. "I remember exactly how I felt as if it just happened. I could have heard you were a Martian and that would have been less surprising to me. That's how much I never expected it. Which is my own fault, I guess."

"It wasn't your fault," he said.

"It's not really about that, though," she said. "It's just that feeling. That pain. Last year, they told me you were dead and I didn't feel that much pain. Then again, I didn't think you were really gone, so... I don't know, I just feel so sad. It always makes me feel like I'm wrong for letting it go."

"There's no reason to keep reliving it."

"I know that. I don't really feel like I should. It's just haunting, that feeling that I wanted it to all go away."

"I was just so worried that you would try again," Sean said. "You wouldn't let me help you and you went away to Tennessee. I really wasn't sure that I'd see you again. When you tried to take your life, you didn't leave a note and I just thought it meant you couldn't be reached and particularly by me."

"I didn't want to talk to you, I didn't want to blame anyone, I just wanted to not be," she said, nodding through the pain she was presently feeling, as acute as it ever was.

"I was petrified," he said.

"It's strange, all these years and we never talked about it," she said. "We just kind of tucked it away with all the bad things that happened to us that year."

"But they're not really gone, just kind of in the attic gathering dust," he added.

"Waiting for some idiot reporter to just dust them off and push the wrong buttons," she said, rubbing her temples. She winces. "I'd do anything to change so many things that happened around that time."

"But everything might have been altered as a result."

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," Tiffany said.

"We might not have Maren. She's one of the most precious things in your life, right?"

"One of the TWO most precious things."

"See, it's hard to think, but that might have been the plan all along," Sean said. "The way it was going to happen, no matter what anyone said or did."

"You don't believe in plans," Tiffany replied.

"You're right. I don't. But I believe in this family."

"I do too," she said, sniffing.

"Good. Come here," he said, pulling her into his arms. She wipes her nose on his jacket.

"Thanks, honey," he said, not really minding. "By the way, honey..."

"Yes?"

"I'm a Martian," he said lightly.

"Yeah, well I kind of knew you weren't from this planet," she retorted, holding on tighter.

A little while later, Sean goes back downstairs. Maren, sitting on the couch, is the only one in the living room. "What happened to Ellie?" he asked.

"She left," Maren said blankly.

"What?" Sean responded, tensing up.

"Dad, I'm kidding," she said. "She was feeling a little tired after that ordeal with the reporters, so I got her settled into the guest bedroom."

"Oh," Sean said, his panic subsiding. "Thanks."

"How's Mom?" Maren asked.

"She's OK. Kind of got the wind knocked out of her a little."

"By the guys in the lobby?"

"Sort of. Sometimes when you go through traumatic things, they can pop up again later on in unexpected ways."

"Like when you were sleepwalking," she said.

"Exactly," he said, sitting down next to her and patting her on the leg. "We sort of go through life thinking of ourselves as machines, that things can bounce off of us if we just don't think about them. But that's not really how it works. And the subconscious mind often has a will of its own."

"Like with Ellie."

"Sort of. You are so smart."

"Sometimes I don't really feel like a rocket scientist. Too many things in the world that are too difficult to figure out," she admitted.

"And when you realize that, it's a sign you're growing up," he said. "Damn, I was hoping to keep you as my little girl for a while longer."

"If being adult means understanding why people can stomp on other people's feelings in the name of news gathering, I'm not sure I want to be one," she replied.

"Good," he said, and he pulled her into his arms much the way he had with his wife about a half-hour earlier.


	73. Chapter 73

By the next day, news accounts of the brain surgery on pregnant Ellie had turned in another direction. The Donelys stood watching the WLPC broadcast on their living room television state in wide-eyed amazement.

"In the holiday season, when everyone's looking for a miracle but just seems to wind up running over each other to get some blue light special, Port Charles just might have found one. We've told you the story of Ellie Atwood, the pregnant woman who recently underwent tricky brain surgery at General Hospital. But what's being questioned right now is whether that risky procedure was the only miracle in Ms. Atwood's life. According to reliable sources, this may not be your run-of-the-mill miracle, but instead one that has only happened once before that anyone of us knows of."

The station cuts to a man of the cloth who the Donelys don't recognize at all. "We're about to celebrate the birth of Jesus. And that makes it all the more amazing to realize that we might have such a miracle going on right now in our little town. The father of this baby may be God."

"What?" the Donelys screamed almost in unison.

"Where do they get this stuff?" Sean asked.

"You can be sure I wouldn't run this kind of story when I had control of this station," Tiffany added.

"This is crazy," Maren chimed in.

Ellie starts down the stairs, and Sean snaps off the TV before she can see any of the broadcast. Tiffany and Maren look at each other.

"Morning, Ellie, how are you feeling today?" Sean asked.

Ellie's head moved from side to side, as she pondered the question for a couple seconds before answering. "All right, I guess."

The phone rang. Sean moved to pick it up. "Donelys residence. ... No, you can not. No, she is not." He slammed the phone down and placed the receiver on the table. "Out of the frying pan into the fire and brimstone, I'd say," he said.

"What do you mean?" Ellie asked.

"Good news is they no longer seem to be interested in petty gossip about you and our family, Ellie," he said. "Bad news. I think we're going to face even more of a media circus than we did yesterday."

"I don't understand," Ellie said.

"Maybe we should leave town for a while," Tiffany said.

"We could do that, but I really don't think we could get far enough, honey," Sean said. "This is the kind of story - well, remember the stain on the wall of that Boston coffeehouse that was the spitting image of Mother Teresa? This is going to be national news faster than that. At least here, we have some people we can count on to run interference for us."

"That's true," Tiffany replied.

"In fact, I'd like to go talk to Robert about this," he continued.

"I'll go with you."

"You're sure?" he said, trying to gauge her emotional state as painlessly as he could after the previous day's media blitz had lay waste to it.

"I'm sure," she said and they prepared to leave.

Maren looked Ellie sideways after the door closed behind her parents, wondering for half a minute if the news report she heard could be true. "Ellie?" she asked.

"Yes?"

The curiosity Maren had about the question the media brought up about the father of Ellie's baby vanished in the face of complete embarrasmment over asking her something so personal. She turned to another subject that was on her mind. "You know my parents' anniversary is coming up, right?"

"Yep, two days before Christmas," Ellie said.

"I have no idea what to get for them," Maren said.

"You've been saying that ever since you first drew an allowance," Ellie laughed. "And remember what I always used to say? At least this much, I am clear on."

"You used to say, why don't you make something, they'll appreciate it that much more."

"Right."

"Well, I think I'm a little old for hand-print ashtrays and even painted ceramic mugs," Maren said.

"True, but I was thinking of something a little different."

"You have an idea what I should do?"

"Absolutely," Ellie said and they huddled together.

A few hours later, Sean and Tiffany were walking arm and arm on the docks after a brief and rather uneventful discussion with Robert.

"Did we get anything accomplished?" she said.

"Just confirmation that someone has our backs if we need it," he said.

"Could always count on Robert for that."

He turns her to face him. "So, how are we doing this morning?"

"We're doing," she said, a smile starting to turn up at the corner of her mouth.

"Glad to hear that, especially we're coming up on the big day," he added.

"You know sometimes I wish we didn't get married around Christmas," she admitted.

"Why's that?"

"It's too easy for you to remember, it should be more of a challenge," she said.

"Like remembering the first time we met? August 8th, 1986? Day I proposed - April 8, 1988. Day you actually accepted - April 11."

"You're wonderful," Tiffany sighed.

"That's not what you said April 9th and 10th."

"It is what I said April 9th and 10th, just not to you."

"Want anything special for your anniversary this year, sweetheart?"

"You," she said.

"You say that every year."

"I want you every year."

"You're wonderful," he sighed, pulling her in for a kiss. "Not sure what I would have done if you said no on April 11 too."

"You probably would have tried badgering and bullying me into finally saying yes by Tax Day," she laughed. "And if that didn't work, you would have seduced me, which of course, would have worked."

"You know me too well, my darling," he said and kissed her again.


	74. Chapter 74

Ellie, wearing a big black coat with a hood, enters the detective agency. Maren looks up from the desk. She pulls the hood down and looks drained.

"Ellie? what are you doing here?" Maren asked, conspicuously turning over the newspaper on her desk. "You should be home resting."

"Not enjoying the television programming too much," Ellie said.

Royce comes out of his office. "Ellie? Why are you here? You should be resting at home."

"Is this a rerun?" she asked. "Let's just get past that so I can get out what I need to say while I can."

Maren pulls a chair out for her. "Here, sit down."

Ellie sits. "I need your help," she said to both of them.

"With what?" Royce said.

Ellie leans over to the newspaper Maren was trying to hide and flips it over. "This," she said.

The headline blared two words - "Immaculate conception?"

Royce takes a deep breath and swears. "Jesus."

"Hmmm," Ellie said, digesting the irony. "We've got to figure this out, so the press leaves your family alone."

"So they leave you alone," Maren corrected.

"So they leave all of us alone, I guess."

"What do you think we can do for you?" Royce said.

"You're detectives, right? That's what it says on the door," Ellie teases. "Let's figure it out. I mean, I'm the one who's pregnant and I don't think we're talking miracle baby here."

"OK, we'll go over everything you know and start from there," he said.

"There's one thing we can do first," Ellie said.

"What?" Maren asked.

"Hospital."

"You OK?" Maren said, rising to her feet and touching Ellie on the arm.

"Yes, fine. I mean, let's go to the hospital and see about a paternity test," Ellie said.

"Oh," Maren responded, exhaling with relief. "We could do that." She looked over at Royce. "Right?"

"Of course," he said. "I don't think Ellie should be going anywhere by herself right now anyway."

"You will give me a former employee discount, won't you?" Ellie said as Royce helped her to her feet. She put her cloak and hood back on.

"You can have the current employee discount," Royce said as they exited.

At the hospital, Maren and Royce joined Ellie in her consultation with Noah.

"You should be home resting," Noah said.

"I've seen this show a couple of times," Ellie said. Noah didn't say anything, just stared at her. "I'll go home and rest after this. I just want to ask you about a test."

"You'll be back at the hospital tomorrow for the latest series, unless you're experiencing difficulties," Noah said.

"Can't wait. But no, I'm not talking about those tests. I want to talk about a paternity test."

"On the baby?"

"Yes, of course," Ellie said sharply.

"Can't do it while it's still in the womb," Noah said.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that test while you're pregnant."

"You just did brain surgery on me while I was pregnant," Ellie said.

"Yes, I did. But that test would mean piercing the womb, and that's a risk I'm not willing to take," Noah said.

"You took the chance on my brain," Ellie said.

"Because I had to, because there was a chance you wouldn't survive," Noah said. "Not because you wanted to keep reporters off your trail."

"Those reporters aren't good for her medical condition either," Maren said.

"I believe that to be true," he said. "But this can wait until the birth of the baby. And it's going to, as far as I'm concerned."

"Isn't there any way?" Maren asked.

"I'm afraid not. I am sorry," Noah said.

The adrenaline Ellie was riding on left her body with those words. She slumped over in her chair. Noah reached over to her. "Go to the nurses station and ask for an orderly right away."

Royce ran out of the room and did as instructed. Maren looked over at Ellie worriedly. "She's all right," Noah said. "She just needs to be at home ... resting."

Maren nodded her head in understanding. "I'm going to go call Mom and Dad."

Noah checked Ellie's vitals as Maren left the room.

Royce waited until Maren got off the phone to walk over to her. "They on their way?" he asked.

Maren nodded. "This is such a mess," she said. "We have to do something to relieve her mind."

"But we can't get her to relive her past without causing more harm than help," he said.

"Can't do that," she replied. "What if we went to her apartment and looked for clues?"

"Couldn't hurt, I guess," he said. "We'll wait until your parents get here."

An hour later, they were at Ellie's apartment.

"What are we looking for?" Maren asked.

"Anything that looks like it doesn't belong in a single woman's apartment," Royce said, looking through papers on the desk.

Maren went into the bathroom, looked through the medicine cabinet and found a can of shaving cream. "Royce!" She took it out and looked at it as Royce ran to her side. "Look. Not my dad's brand."

"Could be Ellie's," he said.

"I don't think so," she added, pointing out cream for shaving women's legs next to it.

"Good work. Except for one thing."

Maren shook her head, not understanding.

"If there were usable fingerprints on this, you probably just fingerpainted them off."

"You didn't say not to touch anything," she said, exasperated mostly by herself.

"Let's keep looking," he said, taking the can from her with a washcloth and putting it in his side pocket. "And Maren?"

"Don't touch anything, I got it now," she responded.

A little while later, Sean and Tiffany brought Ellie in the front door.

"I'm not so sure you shouldn't have stayed at the hospital," Tiff said.

"There's nothing they can do there for me," Ellie said.

"Except maybe force you to rest," Sean replied.

"I'll rest, I'll rest. I want to rest," she said. "Right now."

"I can help you up to your room," Tiffany said.

"I'm fine, really. Thanks. Sorry to be any trouble," Ellie said.

"It's no trouble," Sean said.

Ellie started toward the stairs and slowly ascended them. She peered back at Sean and Tiffany, who tried to pretend they weren't watching her by settling into the couch. Ellie turned the corner and went into Maren's room. She clicked the computer and accessed her email account. "You have one new message," it read. Ellie smiled.


	75. Chapter 75

A couple days later, Sean and Tiffany were lying in bed together. He was awake and watching her asleep in his arms. She looked like she was smiling and it made a grin cross his own face. He ran his hand down her arm until he got to the wedding and engagement rings on her left hand.

"I never forget I'm the luckiest man in the world," he said. "I found this woman of such uncommon beauty and grace. Dignity ... courage ... humor." She stirred in his arms, but didn't wake up. "Happy anniversary, baby."

Maren knocked loudly on her parents' door and burst in. Tiffany woke up with a start.

"You don't just come in our room without being invited, young lady," Sean berated softly.

"Oh come on, Dad. It's not like you and Mom were..." Maren stopped mid-sentence. "Were you?" she added, cringing at the possibility.

"I was asleep," Tiffany said, still trying to wake up. She looked up at her husband. "Happy anniversary, baby."

"Happy anniversary, sweetheart," he said, giving her a light kiss on the lips.

Maren waited until he was done. "My turn now?" she asked. Her father nodded, she jumped on the bed and kissed them both.

"So?" Tiffany asked. Maren looked at her questioningly. Sean knew what was on her mind. "Presents?"

"Sorry, gonna have to wait until the party for mine," Maren chided.

"Sorry, gonna have to wait until AFTER the party for mine," Sean added, in a decidedly more suggestive vein.

"So I get nothing right now?" Tiffany mock-pouted.

"Daughter's gonna have to leave the room if you want something now," Sean responded, lowering his voice.

"Dad, please," Maren added, not in mock disgust.

"Maren, honey," Tiffany said, drawing her attention. "I hope someday you marry a man who drives you as crazy as your father drives me."

"I should marry someone who drives me crazy?" Maren asked.

"Definitely," her mother replied. "Otherwise, you'll be bored to tears."

"So you drive each other crazy?" Maren asked. "Explains a lot," she added teasingly, getting up to leave.

"One more thing, dumplin'," Sean said. "I hope you also marry someone who you can not possible fathom living without." Tiffany and Maren sighed at his romanticism. "I didn't personally do that, but ..." He didn't have time to finish his thought because Tiff elbowed him in the gut. This time, Maren did get up and left the room.

Sean leaned over into his night table and pulled out a rectangular jewelry box wrapped in a red ribbon. "This is just for starters," he said.

"So's this," Tiffany responded, pushing his hand so he dropped the box back on the end table. She pulled him into a kiss that would have made him fall down if he wasn't already on the bed. He started kissing up and down her neck. Her eyes shifted back to the end table, where the wrapped box kept her attention. She fought the impulses he was causing by staring at it.

In one swift motion and without looking at it, Sean grabbed the box by swinging his arm backwards, and brought it forth to present to her. "I can wait," he said, eyes twinkling. "Besides I think the reward will be well worth it."

Later that night, the Donelys were decked out to the nines for their anniversary celebration at a swanky nightspot in Port Charles. Tiffany was resplendent in an emerald green dress that matched all her jewelry. Sean was tuxedoed out. Maren looked gorgeous in a slim-fitting rose-colored dress with short sleeves and even Ellie was decked out in a clay-colored forties knit dress.

"I'd like to propose a toast to my wife," Sean said.

"I hope it's nothing like the charming sentiment about love and marriage you laid upon my daughter this morning," Tiffany winked at her husband.

"I don't want to be too schmaltzy," he said. Tiffany tried to hide her frown, but failed. "But I will. I can't imagine my life without you in it. And I wouldn't want to. You have always been the only woman for me."

Both Tiffany and Maren teared up.

"You want to say something before we clink and drink?" Sean asked.

"I'm happy we met, I'm happy we fell in love," Tiffany said between sobs. "I'm happy we got married ... less happy with the actual ceremony. I'm happy every moment I get to look in your eyes."

"To us," Sean said.

"To us," Tiff added.

"To you," the rest echoed as they clinked glasses and drank.

"OK, Maren, lay it on us," Tiffany said.

"Now?" Maren said, freezing up a little.

"Now's good," Ellie said.

"OK, let's do it," Maren said, pulling Ellie to her feet. They walked to the stage and had a brief discussion with the band.

Ellie took the microphone, her hand shaking a little as she did. Sean and Tiffany looked at each other questioningly, both shaking their heads like they didn't know what was going on.

"Uh, hi," Ellie said awkwardly, clearly not comfortable talking in front of the assembled people. "A friend of mine has this problem with finding anniversary and Christmas presents for her parents. But I think this time, she's really come up with something special. So without further ado, I'd like to present the public singing debut of Miss Maren Donely."

Sean and Tiffany looked at each other again, totally stunned, and then back to the stage. Maren has donned a Santa hat as she came out to sing "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Tears rolled down Tiff's cheeks as she watched her daughter look totally comfortable on the stage, really in her element. Sean's just stunned at the young lady his daughter has become.

At the side of the stage, Ellie mirrored Maren's moves. When the song was near the end of the chorus, she stepped to the side door and grabbed someone's arm. She pulled him around the corner and it was Sean's son, Conner. Ellie handed him a microphone and he started to sing as the second verse began. Now Maren's the one who was stunned, so much so that she stopped singing as he joined her. Conner wrapped his free arm around his sister and continued to sing out the crowd, eventually Maren rejoined him in the song. Sean and Tiffany were just totally overwhelmed.

Royce walked into the room as Maren was totally re-engaged in the song and just stood there, transfixed. At that moment, he couldn't deny what he was feeling for her. In fact, it was just crystallizing all of it for him.

At the side of the stage, Ellie looked happier than she had in months, even dancing around to some of the steps she had worked out with Maren. For the second chorus, Maren and Conner went down into the crowd - specifically to sing to Tiffany and Sean. They returned to the stage in time for Maren to hit the very hard string of notes at the end of the song, which she did, perfectly.

At least three sets of eyes in the house were moistened by the performance. When it ended, Maren put down her mike and jumped into her brother's arms. They went down to the happy couple.

Tiffany smoothed her daughter's hair as her eyes misted over. "That was the most beautiful thing I ever saw," she said truthfully. "You're wonderful."

Conner and Sean hugged, then he embraced Tiffany. "How did you do this?" Sean said to both of them.

"Well, Ellie and I planned the song," Maren said.

"Ellie's the one who asked me to show up," Conner admitted.

"She did?" Maren asked. "I don't think I've ever been more shocked by anything in my life."

Sean spotted Ellie standing over by the bar. "Come over here," he signaled to her, pulling her into a big bear hug. "That was amazing, thank you."

"Like I said your daughter said, you're kind of hard to shop for," Ellie said.

"Thank you, Ellie," Tiffany said.

"No, thank you. I don't think I could ever thank this family enough," Ellie admitted.

"You just did," Tiff said.


	76. Chapter 76

Tiffany and Sean were dancing in each others' arms at the club. Maren smiled for a moment as she watched them, then looked down at her dress and felt an incredible sense of loneliness at that moment. She got up and walked outside for a breath of fresh air. Royce, who had been watching her every moment since he walked in the club, followed.

Tiff and Sean didn't notice, as they were looking deeply into each others' eyes. "This has been the most incredible night," she said.

"I say that every night when I'm with you," he said.

"Maren ... she's so amazing," she said.

"She's her mother's daughter," he said.

"She's better than that," Tiffany said. "She's an amazing singer ... performer. She's better at it than I ever was."

"She's the best of both of us," Sean said.

"Yes," she said, moving even closer to him.

Maren was chewing on her nail on the dock outside the club when Royce walked up behind her.

"You were magnificent," he said.

She turned to face him. "Thanks," she said tightly.

"I saw you leave," he said.

"Obviously."

"Why did you leave?" he asked.

"Not really sure," she said truthfully. "Maybe my moment was over."

"I don't think that," Royce said. "They'd probably love to hear you sing again. ... I'd like to hear you sing again."

"Only prepared one number," Maren said.

"Could I interest you in your Christmas present then?" he asked, producing a small gold-colored box with a red ribbon on it.

"I..." she started to say and then didn't really know where she was going with it.

He handed her the box. She bit her lip as she ran her finger over the ribbon.

"Go ahead," he said.

"Shouldn't I wait for Christmas?" she asked.

"No reason to," he said.

Maren opened the box, in it was a gold wire heart shape pendant with a twist at the top through which the gold chain ran. She gasped when she saw it. "It's really beautiful," she said, running her finger over the reed-thin gold chain.

"I thought of you when I saw it," he said.

"I don't really get you," she said, confused.

"I know you think you don't," Royce said. "But you do."

Maren looked more confused than she did the moment before. He reaches into the box, takes it out and deftly unclasps the necklace and puts it around her neck.

"So this is one of those days when you admit you actually like me," she said, matter-of-factly while trying to maintain her composure with him in such proximity.

"I like you, Maren," he said, his hands slid down both sides of her neck after he clamped the necklace around her. "I more than like you. You know that."

She closed her eyes. "I'm not dreaming, am I?" she asked, more to herself than to him.

"If you are, I am too," he said, leaning to kiss her neck along the chain.

"Maren?" a voice called from behind them, breaking the moment. They both turned around.

"Sis, I think they'd like an encore," Conner said.

"I didn't practice anything else," Maren said.

"You used to sing 'Blackbird' with me, remember?"

"That was a long time ago," she said.

"You remember," he said. "You, me and the guitar."

She looked at Royce. "Go ahead," he said.

"OK," she said, softly, not wanting to walk away. "Royce, this is my brother, Conner. Conner ... Royce."

"Nice to meet you," he said, offering his hand before guiding Maren back to the club. "Royce, huh? Dad always said you were going to be a heartbreaker."

Maren smiled and placed her elbow inside her brother's as they went back in.

Later that night, Maren waited until her parents had retired to her room. She went upstairs to her room, slipped on a tank dress, grabbed her keys and went down the elevator to Royce's apartment. She ran her finger across the necklace, picturing how it felt when Royce's lips had been there a few hours ago. She rapped softly on the door. No answer.

"Well, I could knock again," she said to herself. "Or..." She rran her fingers over the little pick her father put on her keychain for easy access to anywhere she might need easy access to. She let herself in easily, having already practiced on the similar lock in the penthouse. She walked into the room, closed the door softly and looked around at the darkened apartment. She could smell his essence and she inhaled deeply.

She walked over to his bedroom door, and opened it slowly. She didn't see him anywhere inside. Probably because, the minute the door was opened all the day, Royce grabbed her from behind and tackled her over on his bed. He turned her over and he loosened his grasp as soon as he saw it was her.

"Not quite how I was expecting this to go, but I don't know too much about these things," Maren said.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, incredulous.

"I didn't think we finished our previous conversation," Maren said. "And this is probably a better venue for this anyway. ... So, thank you."

She leaned over to kiss him and he responded immediately. After a long kiss, he pulled back and then moved away from her. "You should go," he said.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea," he said.

"Idea, I don't have any idea," she said. "Mixed signals, them I have in bunches."

"I care about you," Royce said.

"You go around giving everyone you care about heart necklaces?" Maren said, getting up from the bed slowly. "Oh. Maybe you do."

"No, I don't," he said.

"Then why did you..." she started to ask.

"It's just something I wanted you to have," he said.

Maren shakes her head, confused.

"I think you're the most beautiful girl in the world," he admitted.

She started toward him again, enchanted by his words.

"But," he said.

"Don't 'but'," she said. "Don't 'but' me."

"But you need some time and space," Royce said.

"I don't," Maren said. "I know what I want. I want you. What was that all about tonight? If my brother hadn't come out to find me, what would have happened?"

"You have to go," Royce said against every instinct in his mind and body. "Now."

Maren fingered the necklace around her neck. She considered ripping it off and throwing it in his face, but didn't. She just turned and left.


	77. Chapter 77

Not much changed in the next few months, Maren avoided any conversation with Royce that didn't extend beyond work-related matters. She couldn't even look him in the eyes due to embarrassment. For his part, Royce was doing the same, but only because voicing aloud the feelings he had kept inside seemed to have made everything worse.

Also getting worse was Ellie's condition, as her visions had started to return. Since she was able to recognize when Sean and Tiffany weren't actually in the room with her, she didn't let on to the Donelys that her aneurysm was getting worse again and all the cortisone treatments in the world at General Hospital weren't having much of an effect.

Royce wasn't getting very far in his investigation of the father of Ellie's baby either, and everyone seemed resigned to the fact that they would have to wait for the birth to make any progress on that front. Royce and Maren had just started working on a new case involving a deadbeat father.

"I think we have a name," he said, coming out of the office with a paper in his hand. "Nick Szyszynski. Been hauling rigs for Port Charles Lumber."

"Szyszynski? Couldn't pick a name like Smith," Maren said.

"He's not even smart about it, apparently Szyszynski is Vincent Hannigan's mother's maiden name," Royce said.

"Maybe he wants to be caught," she said. "Maybe he knows he isn't doing right by his family."

"You're so young," Royce replied.

Maren banged her fist on the keyboard and got up. "Of course, that's your response to everything." She grabbed her coat.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm going to lunch, that OK with you or should I get a permission slip from my parents?" she responded, with her hand on the doorknob.

"Actually I was going to ask you to come down to the lumber yard with me," he said.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't want to get underfoot or anything."

"Don't push it too far, kid. I was asking you to go. If you don't want to, that's fine too, I'll do it on my own."

Maren stretched her neck, realizing she was going a little overboard. "Sorry. Yes, I'll go."

"Fine," Royce said tightly, walking to the door but still gallantly waiting for her to exit first.

At the Donelys, Ellie was lying on the couch, staring at her protruding belly.

"How long have I been pregnant for, eight years?" she said.

"About six months," Sean said, kissing her hand as he sat down beside her.

"Six months, two weeks, three days, 10 hours," Tiffany added, sitting on the other side with her hair in a ponytail and pink sweats.

Ellie understood the particulars of the visions now, even though they were much shorter than they had been before her surgery. In them, Sean would always be super smooth and sweet to her, while Tiffany would always be dressed down. She even started to enjoy them, as they didn't look as overly concerned as the real Donelys did when they were relating to her.

"Did you say something, Ellie?" Sean said, coming down the stairs while tying a charcoal tie.

"Darn, grey," Ellie laughed to herself about a joke she kept to herself over trying to predict what he'd wear that day through the visions. "I was thinking wine-colored."

"Ready to go?" he said.

"Go?" she responded.

"General Hospital."

"Again?" she said. "Didn't we just go?"

"That was last week," he said gently, sitting besides her. As always, his overly worried visage was more taxing on her than her condition. She found herself wishing for "vision Sean."

"OK," she said, dragging herself up.

"If you're not up to it, I can call Noah, see if he can come over here."

"No, it's fine."

At the lumber yard, Royce and Maren were asking about the wayward trucker.

"He's due back late this afternoon with a full truck," the assistant said after checking her computer.

"Any particular time?" Royce asked.

"No, they don't really punch in and out, they're allowed to take as much of the allotted time as they want to get their shipments to and from here. The rest of it is up to them."

"That's a unique way of doing business," Maren said.

"We've found it's best for them. Cuts down on accidents. They sleep when they need to and productivity is up."

Royce nodded. "Thanks for your help." He led Maren to the door and smiled back at the woman as they left.

They got back to the office about 20 minutes later and the air between them quickly got cold again.

"Are you going to go back again tonight?" Maren asked.

"Probably," he replied.

"Want me to go with you?"

"It'll be after hours. It's not necessary."

"I don't mind," she said.

"I'm going to go down the block and get some coffee, want anything? he asked.

Maren shook her head and Royce went out the door. When the door opened again, she wheeled around and stopped mid-sentence. "On second thought, maybe..." She freezes when she sees Vincent Hannigan.

"You obviously know who I am," he said, locking the door behind him.

"What do you want?" she asked, petrified.

"I want to be left alone," he said.

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, it's only going to make things worse," she said.

"Don't try and sympathize with me, sweetie, I know you're just working for her."

"I have sympathy for you," Maren said. "You have a family. You have kids, they're going to need you."

"They don't need me, they hate me," he said, taking a gun out of his pocket.

"You're down, you're not out," she said. "They might not think of you like they once did, but it doesn't mean it's all gone. Trust me, I know from experience."

Vincent aimed the gun at her, then turned it around on himself.

"No!" Maren said, rushing across the room to try and get the gun away from him.

From behind them, Royce burst through the door. The gun went off as it fell to the floor.

"Maren!" Royce yelled.


	78. Chapter 78

Royce grabbed the gun out of Hannigan's hand, kicking him to the ground and pulling Maren away from him at the same time.

"Maren? Maren?" he yelled, cradling her in his arms with about as much concern as he had shown for anyone his whole life.

"I'm OK," she said weakly. The bullet missed both of them, but she had smacked her head hard against Hannigan when the gun went off.

Royce kept a hold of her, not yet ready to let her go. He ran his hand down her face as he looked in her eyes, trying to discern for himself she was all right.

A cop came through the door, his own weapon drawn. He spotted them huddling on the floor.

"I heard a shot, is everyone OK?" he asked.

"We're fine," Maren said.

"What happened?"

"This is Vincent Hannigan. He also goes by Nick Szyszynski," Royce explained. "He's wanted in two states for nonpayment of child support."

"What does that have to do with a gun shot?" the cop said.

"Nothing," Maren said quickly.

Royce looked at her questioningly. The cop and Vincent did as well.

"It was a misunderstanding," she continued. "No one meant to hurt anyone, right?" she said in Hannigan's directions.

"No," he said softly. "I thought no one was listening to my side of the story. I was wrong."

The cop puts Hannigan in handcuffs. "We'll need you to come down to the station at some point to help flush out the report. If you're sure you don't want to press charges, that is."

"I'm sure," Maren said. "We were just talking."

"Fine, we'll be in touch," he said, pulling Hannigan out the door. The subdued man nodded slightly in gratitude toward Maren as they went out.

Royce turned back to her, still concerned. "You sure you're all right?" he said, his hand touching her face again.

"I'm sure. I'm OK," she said firmly.

"We're going home," he said.

"But ..." she interrupted.

"No arguments," he said, pulling her toward the door like the cop had with Hannigan just a minute earlier, but of course, in a more tender way.

At the hospital, Sean had taken Ellie to her appointment with Noah and then went down a couple floors to meet his psychiatrist for a session. They wrapped up by talking about the medication he had been on to combat his sleepwalking and general depression.

"I'm glad to hear there haven't been any further episodes, you've certainly made a lot of progress," the doctor said. "I think we can start phasing out your meds. Take one less a day this week, take one every two days next week. If there are any physical or emotional changes at all, contact me right away."

Sean nodded. Ellie was doing likewise at that moment in consultation with Noah.

"So the aneurysm's starting to flare up again," Noah said. "You know how this works, Ellie. Those visions probably are going to get worse and worse. And you're going to have to try and get through them for a few months. We definitely can't risk another surgical procedure."

"I understand, Dr. Drake," she said. "They're not so bad right now. I recognize them as not being a part of reality."

"That's good," he said encouragingly. "Have you told the Donelys about what's been going on?"

Ellie bit her lip. "They're already doing so much. And they look at me like I have two heads. Two nice heads that they're genuinely concerned about, but two heads nonetheless."

"It's your choice, of course," Noah said. "I do think you would make it easier on yourself."

"It's really not a problem at all," Ellie said.

"OK," he said. "Let's do the ultrasound." He helped Ellie get set on the table to monitor the baby's heartbeat.

Meanwhile, Maren and Royce entered his apartment.

"Thanks for letting me stay here for a bit," Maren said. "I'm not up to the third degree from Dad and the overwrought mother routine from Mom."

"I don't mind," he said, taking her coat and hanging it up in the closet. "Can I get you something? Maybe you want to lie down."

"No, I'm fine," she said.

He sat down next to her, his legs so close that their knees were touching. "When I realized he was in the office, I was really worried," he said. "And then when I heard that shot ... I don't want to even tell you what I was thinking."

"Tell me," she said.

"When I think of you, Maren, I think of all this promise," he explained. "I've never met anyone in this world who I thought could do anything they wanted and then some. You can go anywhere and be anything. And in that moment, I just was really scared it might have been all taken away from you."

"What if all I wanted was to be yours?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"I've thought of that quite a bit. And then the thing I usually think right after that is that I would be wrong to restrain all your potential. So I try to stay away from you, but that doesn't really work either. I just don't want to hurt you."

"You are hurting me," she said with tears welling in her eyes. "I need to know, one way or the other. Just tell me you love me or tell me you don't."

Royce ran his hand down her cheek for the third time that day. It slid along her neck, where it found the necklace he gave her at Christmas. "You have my heart," he said with a trace of irony. He leaned in to kiss her and, for once, disregarded the impulse to pull away from her. In fact, he pulled her even closer to him, cradling her in his arms like she was the most precious thing he ever held.

"Don't back off this time," she said. "I want to be with you. You're the most exciting person I ever met. And then under all that, you're the most tender."

"I don't think I'm going to be able to stave you off this time," he said.

"I don't want you to."

He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, where he slowly peeled off everything she was wearing except the heart necklace. He drowned her in intoxicating kisses, focusing on making her feel loved and comfortable over any of his own desires.


	79. Chapter 79

Maren was lying curled up in Royce's arms, totally content. He ran his hand down her hair and along her arm, just fascinated by the creature he was holding.

"Maren Donely, I have loved you since the day I first saw you..." he said.

"I kind of wanted to punch you in the face that day," she interrupted, now tracing his lips with her pinkie with decidedly different ideas.

"Be that as it may, it's the truth. I've known you're the one for me and I was just waiting for ... well, now I don't know what I was waiting for."

"You were waiting for me to grow up," she said. "And I certainly feel like a woman now."

"I just knew if I took you my arms I'd never be able to let you go."

"You're extraordinary," she said to him. "So uhhh... how long do we have to wait before..."

"You're a little vixen, you know that?" he whispered back to her and they started to make love again.

Tiffany paced the penthouse, dialing Maren's cell phone and only getting voicemail. Sean and Ellie entered. Tiff avoided looking Sean directly in the eyes. "Hi, how'd it go?" she said as brightly as she could.

"Still pregnant," Ellie said.

"Everything OK with you and the baby?" Tiffany asked.

Ellie nodded. "I'm going to go up and lie down for a while. Thanks for taking me to the hospital," she said to Sean as she ascended the stairs.

"All right, what's wrong?" Sean asked, knowing his wife pretty well.

"Nothing. ... I think," she said. Sean stared at her until she had to spill the beans. "The police called. Apparently there was some kind of incident at the agency."

"Like what?"

"Some guy was arrested for nonpayment of child support," she said.

"And?"

"There was a gun. No one was hurt and no assault charges were filed, but the police want her down to at the station at some point to make a statement."

"Where is she now?" Sean asked.

"I'm not sure. No one's picking up at the office and her cell keeps going to voicemail. I'm sure she's fine."

"How can you be sure when you can't get a hold of her?"

"She might just be out on a case with Royce."

"I don't like this," Sean said.

"I know. I don't particularly like it either. But we don't have to worry about her if she's with him." Tiff tugged on her husband's arm so he had to sit down next to her on the couch. "How'd it go with the doctor?"

"Like Ellie said, everything's fine," he responded.

"I meant with you," she said.

"Oh," he said. "Well, I'm cured."

She looked at him sideways.

"We're cutting back on the medication since there haven't been any incidents," Sean said. "But all of a sudden, that doesn't seem like such a great idea."

"You can't freak out every time Maren doesn't pick up her phone, sweetheart," Tiffany said.

"I know. Just a habit, I guess," he said.

A key turned in the door and Maren walked into the penthouse. Her parents jumped up. Tiffany immediately noticed the change in their daughter and instinctively she knew what it meant.

"Hi," Maren said. She took note of her parents' concerned faces. "The police called I take it."

"Yes, they did," Tiffany said. "What happened?"

"Just a guy at the end of his rope went a little crazy," Maren said.

"He held his gun on you," Sean said, figuring that one out pretty easily. "Why didn't you tell that to the police?"

"He wasn't going to hurt me," Maren said. "I'm not sure he knew what he was going to do."

"He could have hurt you," Sean said.

"Dad, he didn't," Maren continued. "Everything's fine. I'm fine."

Tiffany walked over to her daughter, taking both of her hands in her own. Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Mom, I'm OK," Maren said.

Tiff leaned over and kissed her daughter on the cheek. They looked into each others' eyes. "You look beautiful," Tiffany said.

"Thanks, Mom," Maren said, crediting her for more than just the compliment.

"Why don't you go lie down for a while? I'll call you when dinner's ready," Tiffany said.

Maren nodded and went up to her room.

"You really think she's OK?" Sean asked.

"I really think she's OK."

A little while later, Tiffany rapped softly on Maren's door and entered the room. Maren was standing in front of the mirror, looking for some difference in her appearance that would indicate that her whole world had changed that day. Tiffany smiled to herself, knowing exactly what she was doing and why. She walked up behind her and pulled Maren's flowing hair over her shoulders.

"Royce?" Tiffany asked simply.

Maren nodded. "Mom, I love him."

"I know, honey."

"Don't say that I'm too young," Maren said.

"I didn't," Tiffany responded.

"You're not disappointed in me?" Maren said, catching her mothers' eyes in the mirror.

"Why would I be disappointed?"

"I don't know, for being impulsive, for not thinking things through."

"Is that what you did?" Tiffany asked.

"Sometimes it seems like I've thought of nothing else for a long time," Maren said.

"Come sit down here," Tiffany said, gently pulling her daughter over on the bed. "I'm not disappointed in you in the slightest. There's something between the two of you that's very special."

"You're not going to tell Dad, are you?" Maren asked worriedly.

"No, I'm not," Tiff said. "Because you are."

"Now he WILL be disappointed in me," Maren said.

"I don't think he'll be thrilled, that's true. But if you're old enough to make love, you're certainly old enough to take responsibility for it," Tiffany said. "He'll still love you."

"I don't know how to tell him," Maren said.

"You didn't know how to communicate it to Royce either, and that turned out all right, right?" Tiffany asked gently.

"More than all right," Maren said. "I never ... I didn't ..." Tiffany sits there patiently, waiting for her daughter to formulate what she wants to say. "I guess I had no idea how it could be. He was so gentle and patient. It's because we're in love, right?"

Tiffany looks down, determined to be there for her daughter in this moment and not think of her awkward start in the field. "Yep, it is. When you find someone who cares more about you than you do about yourself, it's very, very special."

"What about you?" she asked, wondering about her mother's first love for the first time.

"I don't think I was quite as lucky as you," Tiffany said, biting her lip. "I had to bide my time a little longer."

"Sorry," Maren said.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," her mother replied. "It became very precious to me when I did find it."

"Dad."

"Yes, your dad."

"It all kind of makes sense to me now," Maren said. "I mean I don't want to think about it overly much, because I might get sick or something (Tiffany rolled her eyes at her daughter's dramatic attitude) ... but all the times I saw him hold you and kiss you. It's about all I want to do right now."

"Kind of intoxicating," Tiffany admitted.

"Very," Maren said.

"You want to run out the door right now and right into his arms," Tiffany said.

"Pretty much," Maren replied.

"It's not going to disappear overnight," she said. "It'll still be there tomorrow. I guess if I was going to give you any advice at all ... which I'm not sure I even want to ... it would just be to believe in what you have and try not to hold on as tightly as you're going to want to."

"You were right about the rest of it, I guess I should believe you now," Maren said. "But it's difficult, I do kind of want to open up the penthouse doors and yell it to the world."

"Boy, I know that feeling," Tiffany responded. "Just enjoy and nurture it. Because you'll need it most when life starts to intrude."

Maren nodded, recalling everything she saw her parents went through over the past couple of years. "Thanks, Mom. You're the best. I'm very lucky to have you."

"Was thinking the same thing myself, sweetheart," Tiffany said, getting up off the bed and blowing a kiss back to her before leaving Maren alone to her own thoughts. Maren leaned back and replayed every moment of what happened when she and Royce got back to his apartment over and over again.


	80. Chapter 80

A couple weeks went by without Maren revealing her relationship to Sean. She's lying in Royce's arms thinking about that fact, and the position she's putting her mother in.

"You have to tell him," Royce said, reading her mind while running his hand along the brown locks on her head.

"Did you get all that from stroking my hair?" Maren said, attempting to be light.

"You're afraid he's not going to approve," he said.

"I don't care," she replied.

"You do care, or it wouldn't be an issue," he said.

She lowered her head, and he started kneading the muscles on her neck and shoulders. "I ... just don't know how to do it. I tried ... a couple of times."

"Worst case scenario. What do you think would happen?" he asked.

"He'd shoot me," she said reflexively.

"He'd never hurt you," he responded, practically before the words were out of her mouth.

"He'd kill you."

"He's not like that. His reputation at the WSB was for non-violent solutions to problems."

"It is so not the same thing," she said.

"I can take care of myself," he said.

"I know."

"So what are you really worried about?" Royce asked gently.

"That it all changes, I guess," she said mournfully.

"He loves you," he said. "And you obviously love him. You two have a wonderful relationship. I'm sort of jealous."

"You don't have to be jealous," Maren said. "I love you more than anyone in the world. If it came down to a choice between ..."

"No one's making any choices. You can have both." He leaned over and kissed her gently. "If it takes time, I can wait."

"You have to be the most patient person on this Earth," she said. "I want everything when I want it."

"I love that about you," he said, swinging her into his lap so he could have better access to her. "Then again, I love ... everything about you. ... And you're mine now, so it wouldn't be half as difficult as it was before."

"Yes, I'm yours," she said, looking at him as if she was intoxicated. She melted into his arms.

A knock came out the door, they ignored it. The rapping became more insistent, and Sean let himself in. "Stanton, I need to talk to you about..." He froze in his tracks, his mouth half-open when he saw his daughter in Royce's arms. "About my daughter, apparently."

"Daddy," Maren said, jumping up. She was almost as astonished as her father.

"What's going on here?" Sean said, willing any response but the one formulating in his head.

"Sean..." Royce started, trying to jump in.

"Don't!" Sean blared at him, keeping his focus on Maren. "There's nothing my daughter can't tell me. Or so I thought."

"Dad, I love him," she said in a voice so quiet he had to strain to hear her. "And he loves me."

Sean's head was spinning. He looked at Maren, trying to figure out what he was hearing but nothing made sense. He walked to the front door, glanced back at her again and left the apartment.

Maren slumped to the floor. "What's the matter with me? Why didn't I tell him?"

"Because you thought he'd take it like that," he said, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly.

Sean quietly entered the penthouse and leaned against the door after he closed it. Tiffany was tucking Ellie in on the couch with a blanket, trying to make her comfortable.

"Did you get what you needed from Royce?" Tiffany asked.

A word his wife said struck Sean as odd. "When did you start calling him 'Royce'?"

"I don't know," Tiffany said truthfully. She finally looked up at her husband and took note of his blanched expression. "What's wrong?"

"You knew," he said. "You knew and you didn't tell me."

Tiffany knew instantly what he was talking about. "It wasn't my place to tell you," she said. "Your daughter's a grownup."

"A grownup? She's a teenager who still lives under my roof who seems to be sleeping with my employee."

Ellie listened in shocked silence. She wasn't really seeing them clearly, her eyes weren't totally in focus, but she didn't really notice.

"She was going to tell you," Tiffany said.

"And you weren't," he said.

"No, you're right, I wasn't going to. I was waiting for her to talk to you," Tiffany said. "What happened?"

"Nothing much, I just walked in on them in each others' arms, that's all," Sean said.

"I'm sorry you found out like that," she said.

"You're sorry. Are you sorry that your daughter thinks she's in love with someone 10 years older than she is?"

"Eight years."

"Fine, eight years."

"No, I'm not," she said. "Aren't you the one who says she's almost 17 going on 40?"

"I wasn't talking about..."

"You were talking about her maturity ... her intelligence ... her instincts. Personally I couldn't see her falling for some high school kid. It would have to be someone who has as much strength and wisdom as she does. Like her father."

"Don't do that," Sean said.

"There's no way she would ever fall for any other kind of man," Tiffany said.

"It makes a lot of sense," Ellie said, mostly to herself.

"Ellie, please. Don't help." He turned back to his wife. "So your opinion is that this is all fine?

"You don't want my opinion, Sean. You want me to have _your _opinion."

"And you don't?"

Tiffany was about to answer when Maren walked in the door, followed closely by Royce. "Dad, can I ... can we please talk to you?

"Great, now you want to talk," Sean said.

Tiffany crossed over to Ellie and helped her to her feet. "Let's go upstairs," she said. Ellie nodded mournfully, looking back at all the pained faces.

After they disappeared from view, Maren bit her lip and tried to choose her words carefully. "Dad, I am sorry you found out like that. I should have talked to you sooner. I was afraid ... afraid of how you would react."

"That usually indicates that something's wrong," Sean said.

"Or that the opposite is true and I was just worried about you not wanting to let me grow up," Maren said.

"Did you and your mother rehearse this ahead of time?"

"Dad, no. I let you down by not coming to you and telling you how things were. I'm trying to show you that I'm a woman now and the first thing I do is keep something from you like a child."

Sean looked over at Royce. "You want to say something here? Maybe about statutory rape?"

"Dad!" Maren said. "He never attacked me."

"It doesn't matter under the law," Sean said. He kept his eyes fixed on Royce.

"I'm not going to be able to say anything that's going to make you feel better right now, sir," Royce said. "So I'll just tell you that I love your daughter more than my own life. I'd lay down mine for hers in a second. And maybe someday when you think about that, it'll make you feel better."

"Right now, it just makes me want to hit you harder," Sean said.

"I understand that," Royce said.

"You're fired," Sean said.

"I understand that too," Royce said.

"What are you going to do next, disinherit me?" Maren chided.

"Get out," Sean said, internally not believing he could even say those two words.

"You know why I was having so much trouble telling you?" Maren asked. "You spent years telling me that whatever I had to say was valid. You were the only person in the world who talked to their child like an adult. I was worried about that changing. And apparently I was right to."

Maren turns toward the door, she took Royce's hand in hers and walked out. Sean slumped onto the couch.


	81. Chapter 81

Upstairs, Tiffany was distracting - or attempting to distract - herself from thoughts of what was going on in the living room by doting on Ellie.

"Can I get you something?" Tiffany asked.

"No, I'm fine," Ellie said.

"You always say that," Tiffany said. "There's got to be something I can do for you."

"Are you kidding? You guys watch over me like no one ever has before," Ellie said. "You see anyone breaking down your door to take me off your hands? You guys are a perfect family."

Tiffany sighs. "We were."

"So Maren and Royce are ... romantically involved?" Ellie asked as delicately as she could.

"Yes," Tiff says.

"And Sean didn't know?" Ellie followed.

"No, he didn't," Tiff said just as softly.

"It'll be all right," Ellie said, trying to convince herself as much as Tiffany.

There's a soft rap on the door. It's Sean.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asks his wife.

Tiffany nods. "Get some rest," she says to Ellie as she goes.

Ellie leans back and a wave of dizziness passes over her.

Tiffany enters their bedroom and sits on the bed. Sean follows and closes the door. They don't say anything for a minute.

"You wanted to talk?" she asked.

"Not sure what to say. So far nothing's coming out the way I want it to," he replied. "I guess I want to know what you're thinking."

"I'm not going to get in the middle of this," Tiffany said.

"Why's that?"

"I don't know," she said. "I guess I think you're both entitled to your opinions."

"That's very politically correct, honey. Now what's the real reason?" he pressed.

"In case I'm wrong," she admitted.

"So you think she might be wrong about him?"

"No, I don't. But Maren is the one of the two most precious things in my life and so I want to protect her anyway I can. If we both have different opinions, maybe it does that."

"So you're hedging your bet?"

"No, I'm not," Tiffany said. "I believe in him. I think he loves our daughter and will protect her no matter what. He's a lot like you."

"That's really not what I'm wanting to hear right now," Sean said.

"I know, but it's the truth."

In her room, Ellie's not finding it easy to sleep. Tiffany and Sean enter her room.

"We thought you might still be awake," Sean said.

"Not really since you're not really here," Ellie replied.

"Apparently not," Tiffany said, looking down at the orange sweatsuit Ellie has conjured up for her. "I'm so not into orange."

"You guys are working this out, right?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know. Hubby's pretty stubborn. And I'd like to remind him of what age he probably was when he first ... got it on, but I'm not looking to head toward divorce caught," Tiffany said.

"That's really not the issue, sweetheart," Sean said.

"I think it is," Tiff said. "I know what age I was, and I wasn't near as mature as Maren was at the time. Not to mention the fact that fumbling around in a backseat doesn't strike me as a particularly stellar introduction."

"I'm not enjoying this discussion," Sean said.

"I know you're not, but you're going to have to face it head on because it's staring you right in the face," Tiff said.

"Ellie, what do you think of Stanton?" Sean asked.

"Now I know for sure you're not here. You would never ask my advice," Ellie said.

"Be that as it may, what's your gut inclination?"

"Well, I think he's a standup guy," Ellie said.

"How do you get that out of all of this?" Sean asked.

"That man has been around her for almost three years. Have you seen him look at any other girl in all that time?"

"He's been stalking her," Sean concluded.

Both women shake their heads.

"You're so sure it's not the reverse?" Tiffany asked.

"What?"

"She does have feminine wiles, honey. She's been all over him for a year. He kept her at arm's length, but he never took his eyes off her. Ellie's right. He's been waiting for her. Any moves that were made were probably made by her. Sean, he loves her."

In the bedroom, the real discussion is continuing.

"I can't believe I said that to her," Sean said. "I heard the words come out of my mouth and I couldn't stop them."

"I'm not going to bust you for being upset," Tiffany said. "That had to be the shock of your life."

"It was."

"I wasn't as surprised. I mean, how long have they known each other? You don't think he stayed here because he wanted to work for you, right? He was just waiting for her to tell him the time is right. Well, she did. We can't want more for our daughter than someone who loves her so completely and unconditionally."

Sean runs his hand through his hair.

"Sweetheart, I'm not sure any man would be acceptable to you right now," Tiffany said. "It doesn't matter who it is."

"It just matters that she didn't think she could tell me about him."

"Maybe if you let her talk to you about him, you know, like those long talks the two of you used to have."

"She probably has them with him now," Sean said.

"She is going to need you. Everything is happiness and light between them right now. And when that wears off - not that it ever really wore off for me - but things will come up and she'll want to talk to her dad about them."

"Seems like she's got you now in that capacity," he said.

"This really isn't like you," she said.

"I guess I'm not sure how to act when I lose my own daughter," he said.

"You haven't lost her ... yet."

Sean takes in that concept.

Maren and Royce are lying together in his bed.

"I'm not sure that was the greatest response to what happened upstairs," he said.

"You're not?" she said. "I thought it was pretty great. Holding on to you for dear life. You and me against the world."

"It shouldn't be that way," he said.

"But hey, it is. We're lovers," she said, wrapping herself around him as she languidly says the last word. "I really love that word. Lovers."

"It's not enough for me," Royce said. Maren looks at him questioningly. He reaches over to his end table and pulls a box out of the drawer. "This is probably lousy timing ... but ... will you marry me?"

Maren is totally overwhelmed.

"You can think about it, you don't have to answer right now. You're still young, it doesn't have to be right away. You can still go to Columbia University. You can still do whatever you want. I just want you to know that I will be here for you if and when you ever want to say yes."

"I want to say yes," she said.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that."

"I'm completely in love with you."

"And that."

"Royce, I'm saying yes. I mean, I'm saying yes now!"

"Oh baby," he says and rolls over with her in his arms. He gently places the ring on her finger, kisses it and then brushes a kiss on her heart necklace.

His front doorbell chimes. They both groan.

"I'll get rid of whoever it is," Royce said, quickly donning a bathrobe and going downstairs. He opens to the front door ... to Sean.


	82. Chapter 82

It took Sean about a second to figure out what Royce had been up to before he rang the doorbell.

"Unbelievable," Sean said. "You can't keep your hands off her."

"I love your daughter," Royce said.

"How long has this been going on anyway? My wife seems to think it's recent, but now I'm not so sure." Sean enters without being invited in. "I let her work in the office alone with you. Let her go traipsing off to Boston with you. Some detective I turned out to be."

"You want the truth, I'll tell you the truth," Royce said. "I'm just not sure you really want to hear it, sir."

"Don't call me that," Sean chided. "Yeah, I want to hear it."

"If I had to go back and survey the past like we used to do in the WSB to learn about motivations, I'd have to admit that I have loved your daughter for a very long time, Sean," Royce said.

"Don't call me that either," Sean interrupted.

"But we didn't ... I didn't ... it didn't get more intense until recently," Royce said. "And now that it is, I'm not going to take it back. I'm not going to apologize for it, and I'm definitely not going to stop seeing her."

"How am I supposed to respond to that?" Sean asked.

"I don't know, maybe this is a conversation you should be having with her," Royce said.

"You're the alleged adult here," Sean said.

"If you don't see that she's not a child anymore, we're not going to get anywhere. And we won't get there fast," Royce said.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Maren called from the landing, apparently clad in Royce's t-shirt and sweatpants.

Sean just shakes his head at the sight. "Right now I'm not sure of anything."

"Did you come to talk to me or yell at me some more?" Maren asked, slowly descending.

"I thought I came here to try to talk, but just looking at you now, I'm not sure. ..." his voice trailed off as he saw a glimmer on her hand when she drew closer. "There's no way. No way in hell."

Sean goes off and starts punching Royce. Maren's screams don't stop him, he seems to have totally lost control. Royce doesn't fight back.

"I want you to come home with me ... now," Sean said after he finally runs out of steam.

"Why would you think I would ever go with you now?" Maren said, tears in her eyes as she holds Royce to her. "How could you do this to someone that I told you I loved?"

Building security arrives at the open door and bursts in the room. They get an eyeful. "What happened here?" one of the guards said.

"I just beat the hell out of my daughter's fiance," Sean said, realizing what he had done as he says the words.

The guard reads Sean his rights, handcuffs him and leads him out of the apartment. Maren tends to Royce's injuries.

"Why didn't you defend yourself?" Maren asked.

"I couldn't do that to you," he said.

"We should get you to the hospital," she said.

"I'm fine," he replied.

"Let's just make sure, please." she said.

He nodded and let her lead him out.

Up in the penthouse, Ellie slowly descended the stairs. Tiffany was staring blankly ahead, drinking some coffee. Ellie touched her lightly and Tiff sprung up, almost spilling coffee on herself.

"Sorry," Ellie said.

"What are you doing up?" Tiffany said. "You should be resting."

"I'm really tired of resting," Ellie said. "Where's Sean?"

"I think he might possibly be talking to Maren. Either that or digging a grave for Royce."

"I hope it's the former," Ellie said.

"Me too, Ellie. Me too," she replied as the phone rang.

"Donely residence," she said, picking it up. Her face sinks at what she's hearing on the other end. "Yeah, OK. I'll be right there." She hangs up, grabs her purse and her keys.

"What happened?" Ellie asked.

"Sean's been arrested for assaulting Royce," Tiff said.

"You going to bail him out?"

"Either that or I'm going to leave him there to rot and take off on a vacation to Europe." The door slams behind her.

"I hope it's the former," Ellie said, leaning back on the pillows and feeling another wave of dizziness.

Sean's cooling his heels in jail. Except he's still hot under the collar and pacing around the cell.

"Amazing, it's really amazing. He's the one sleeping with a minor and I'm the one in jail."

"I don't think pressing statutory rape charges against your daughter's boyfriend is really going to bring her back to you," said Tiffany, having overheard him.

"Interesting, now you're the one out of the loop, honey. The boyfriend has been upgraded to fiance," Sean said smugly.

"What?" Tiffany said incredulously.

"Oh yeah, I saw the rock. And that's when I rolled ... over his face," Sean said.

"He just let you do that?"

"He didn't raise a finger."

"I thought you were the pacifist," Tiffany said. "But we've already discovered how much things can change."

"So you don't want to beat his face in now that you've heard this news?"

"It's not the best news I ever heard in my life, but I think your daughter probably feels the exact opposite on that front. And I just want to remind you again how bright and grown up you always have said she is. Why are you second-guessing that now?"

"Because she's making a mistake," Sean said plainly.

"You know, everything you and I see in her, he sees too," Tiff said. "We all want the same thing - Maren's happiness. Now come over here."

Sean warily makes his way over to the bars. She cups his head in his hand and kisses him as soft and deeply as she can with bars impeding them. "Go bail me out," he says after they pull apart.

She nods and walks down the hallway to the sergeant's desk. "I'd like to post Sean Donely's bail," Tiffany said.

"Well, you're going to need a bail bondsman and then put up 10 percent. It needs to be in cash. That'll take a while."

"Maybe this will speed up the process," Tiffany said, pulling a thick roll of hundreds out of her purse.

The sergeant counts off 10 hundreds and gives the rest back to her, then gives her a form to sign. "He will be right down."

"I won't be waiting for him," she said, walking out of the police station.


	83. Chapter 83

Sean enters the penthouse, totally drained by everything that had happened that day. The sky outside the balcony doors looked dark and ominous.

"Tiffany?" he called out. "Tiff?"

Ellie appears at the top of the stairs. She struggles as she descends, he walks over to help her.

"Sean? Aren't you supposed to be in jail?" she said, totally disoriented and not looking particularly well.

"I'm out," he said. "Have you seen Tiffany?"

"I think she's going to Europe."

"What?" Sean asked, totally baffled.

"I don't think she was too thrilled by what happened," Ellie said.

"I got that much," he said. "You OK?"

"Not feeling very well. Having some pains."

"Maybe we should get you to the hospital," Sean said with concern.

"They say it's normal around this time," Ellie said.

"There's nothing 'normal' about your pregnancy and I don't think we should take any chances," he said.

As if on cue, Ellie doubles over with a contraction. And outside, a huge bolt of lightning is visible through the glass doors. It's followed by a big rumble of thunder and rain quickly starts falling in droves.

"Whoa!" Ellie said.

Sean leans over to help her as Tiffany enters the penthouse. She rushes over to him. "The baby?" she asked.

"I think so," Sean said.

"Oh God, this is a dream ... this is just a dream, not really happening," Ellie said.

Outside there's another bolt of lightning and clap of thunder.

"I'm dreaming," she said.

The lights go out with the next round of the storm.

"I'm a very dramatic dreamer apparently," Ellie said. "Dr. Drake told me to expect this."

"We've go to get her to General Hospital right away," Tiffany said.

"We don't. This is just my imagination. It's my brain. It's been coming on for weeks," Ellie said.

"Ellie, we're really here," Sean said gently.

Ellie gathers herself up and backs away from them, frightened by her visions. "No, you're not. You're in jail, she's in Europe." She doubles over from another contraction.

"We're here," Tiffany echoed. "I'm not in Europe. It was a joke. A bad joke. Let us help you."

"Why are you helping me? I don't understand why you're always helping me," Ellie said. "You're just in my head."

"Sweetie, look at me," Tiffany pleaded. "Remember what you told me about those visions. I'm always dressed funny, right? Brightly colored sweatsuits with my hair pulled back in a ponytail. Look at me now. I didn't just get this off the rack at K-Mart."

Ellie looks her over and she starts to believe her. "You're here. Oh God, my water really broke?"

"Your water broke?" the Donelys exclaimed at the same time.

"It's going to be OK. I don't have to do this myself," Ellie said.

"No, you don't," Sean said. "Lie back down here." He places her on the couch and turns back to Tiffany. "We don't know how long the power's going to be out. We might not be able to get her out of here. We have to prepare for that."

"I'll make her as comfortable as I can and then I'll call Robin," Tiffany said. "I'll have her get a hold of Noah too. I don't know how long after she gives birth he can go after that aneurysm, but he should at least be aware of it."

Sean nods. They look at each other for a long beat. He kisses her on the cheek. "Thanks for bailing me out."

"I'm glad you're here," Tiff said genuinely.

"I'm glad you are," he answered.

A couple hours later, the power hadn't been restored and the contractions were coming closer and closer. An overwhelmed Ellie's disorientation was growing worse by the moment.

"Ellie, I don't want you to worry," Tiff said. "It doesn't matter the power's out, it doesn't matter you're not in the hospital. You're going to be fine."

"We've done this before," Sean said lightly. "In fact, I don't think we even needed the doctors."

Tiffany raises her eyebrow at him. He shrugs. Another lightning-thunder strike seems to bring on another contraction.

"The press - of which I'm glad I'm a former part of it - would have a real field day with this," she said. "Their whole miracle baby theory with Mother Nature's assistance."

"We'll find out soon enough about this little tyke," Sean said, smiling at the pained Ellie. "Let's just bring him or her safely into the world."

"We never did find out if he or she is a he or she, did we?" Tiffany asked.

"It's a boy," Ellie said.

"Noah told you?" Tiffany replied.

"I just know," Ellie said. And she screams in pain, rivaling the latest thunder clap. "Looks like this is it."

Tiffany and Sean follow all the instructions Robin gave them to the letter, with Tiffany supporting Ellie's back and helping her breathe properly. And within the hour, Ellie's baby - which was, in fact, a boy after all - was born.

The exhausted Ellie dozes off in the arms of Tiff, who strokes her hair soothingly. Sean carefully cuts the cord and looks absolutely amazed when he regards the newborn in his arms. "It is a miracle," he said.

"Just like the last one," Tiffany said knowingly.

"Yeah," he said.

"Everything she survived to get into the world," she continued.

There's a knock at the front door. Sean hands the baby to Tiffany and goes to open it. It's Maren.

"I just wanted to make sure you guys were all right," she said. "I walked up the stairs."

"You knocked on the door?" Sean asked like it was the most ridiculous thing out of all that had happened that day.

"I didn't know if I was welcome here anymore," Maren admitted.

Sean pulled his daughter into his arms. She held on to him as tightly as she could. Lightning struck in the background. A relieved Tiffany looked up at them and smiled.


	84. Chapter 84

A couple days later, Ellie is safely ensconced in a hospital bed at General Hospital. Noah's preparing to do the surgery and everyone's in her room gathering around her bedside as she holds her son.

"This is soooo against hospital policy," Noah said.

"Seeing as there are three members of the staff in here, I think we'll be able to let it slide," Robin said.

"I want to thank everyone ... while I can," a groggy Ellie said, gazing down at her son.

"It's not necessary, Ellie," Sean said.

"It is. I know we talked about this last night, but I want to thank your family for taking care of my son if something happens to me in this surgery," Ellie said.

"Nothing's going to happen, Ellie," Noah said.

"I appreciate you saying that, but I think you're paid to do that," she chided.

"Well, I won't get paid if we don't get this show on the road, so I'm going to go check on all the particulars and then we can have our hot date in OR 5," Noah said, winking at her.

Ellie nods. "The paternity test results?" she said in Patrick's direction.

"Should be in later this afternoon," Patrick said.

"You can tell them," she said, waving her arm wearily toward the Donelys.

"I will," Patrick said. "I'll go check on the progress now. But I'll be seeing you very soon." He winks at her too.

"What is with the Drake men and all their winking?" Ellie asked.

"Just something we women have to put up with, I guess," Robin said.

"What a hardship," Tiffany sighed.

"Ellie... about your son..." Sean started, ignoring the women's observations.

"Yes?"

"Have you decided on a name?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you that yet. I swear I can't remember what I have and haven't said," Ellie replied. "I have. It's Zach. Zachary Paul Atwood to be specific."

"It's a wonderful name," Maren said.

"Thanks, Maren. It's really hard to rival yours, but I think it suits him," Ellie said.

"I do too, it's beautiful," Tiffany said.

"Welcome to the world, Zach," Sean said as Ellie kissed her son on the forehead and handed him over.

"Maren?" Ellie called out.

"Is there something I can do for you, Ellie?" she said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"There is. I'd really be thrilled if you and Royce would be Zach's godparents."

Maren's shocked. "Me? I don't know. Don't you want someone else to do that for you?"

"No, I want you and Royce," Ellie said. "I couldn't make a better choice for my son."

"I don't know if I can," Maren said.

"Of course you can, you're Maren Donely," Ellie said confidently.

"She does have a point there, honey," Tiffany said, squeezing her daughter's shoulders in support.

"I guess I should say yes then," Maren said. "Yes!" she followed exuberantly.

"I'm glad you did, thank you," Ellie said.

"No, thank you. It's an honor," Maren said.

"OK, I guess I'm ready," Ellie said.

"Since all the bases are covered, I'm going to have to ask everyone to step outside," Robin said.

The Donelys all leave Ellie with their best wishes and kisses on the cheeks. Sean hands Zach to his mother one last time. Tears fill Ellie's eyes, and in fact, everyone in the room's eyes as well as they part. When they step out of her room, Sean hands Zach over to Maren.

"Well, Godmom, it's about time you got used to this," Sean said. "Godmother duty sounds nice, but basically it's about a lot of grunt work. Dirty diapers and the like. Lots of carrying involved."

"I'm not sure how to even hold him," Maren admitted.

Sean leads her to the couch. Tiffany follows them, smiling at the reformation of their bond.

"The most important thing is that he feels safe in your arms. A lot of babies fuss because they don't feel comfortable or they can sense that someone isn't comfortable holding them," Sean said.

"OK," Maren said, taking it all in.

"You have to support his whole body," Sean continued. "If you do that, he can relax. Also hold him close to you, because babies love that."

"Definitely, although that can lead to clingy, overprotective fathers," Tiffany added.

"Do you mind? We were having a moment here," Sean chided.

"Yeah, Mother," Maren added.

Tiffany smiled at a very familiar feeling of father and daughter against Mom. She relished it.

"I guess we do need to talk about a lot of things," Sean said.

"We don't have to do it right now, Dad," Maren said.

"OK. I just want you to know that I am sorry," he said.

"I am too. For someone who wanted to be treated as a grownup, I did some immature things," she said.

"So did I. But you kind of learn that sometimes that's part of being an adult," he said. "The ability to flip out and do things you regret two seconds after you do them."

"Not me, I didn't fly off the handle one bit," Tiffany chimed in.

"I know honey, you're too good for me ... you always have been," he said, squinting his eyes at the interloper. She puckers up and blows a kiss to him.

In the laboratory, Patrick received an email saying that the paternity test results were complete. He clicked on the file and stared down at it. "What? There are going to be an awful lot of people shocked about this one."

Patrick wound his way down the General Hospital corridor until he got to the Donelys in the lounge. He had the test results in a folder in his hand. They stood up as he approached.

"Zach's father?" Sean asked.

"In here," Patrick said.

"You'll be able to determine who he is once Ellie regains that memory?" Tiffany asked.

"We don't have to. The results matched someone already in the hospital computer," Patrick explained.

The Donelys all looked at him questioningly.

"Scott Baldwin," Patrick said.

They stared back in stunned silence.


	85. Chapter 85

The Donelys continued to stare at Patrick.

"Scotty Baldwin?" Tiffany said incredulously.

"And there's no mistake?" Sean said.

"It's an absolute match," Patrick said.

"But how?" Maren asked. "Well, I know how, but..."

"Well, she used to drop off papers there pretty regularly, but I had no idea they had any kind of relationship," Sean said.

"I wonder why Ellie doesn't either," Tiffany said, wandering around in a little circle as a thought started formulating in her mind. "Wait a minute. Scotty's out of town with Serena. Didn't Ellie said when she talked to him ... when she thought she was talking to you, Sean, that he said he needed time with his daughter? That certainly fits."

"I think we need to get in touch with Scotty, he's been gone so long he's probably not aware that any of this has been going on," Sean said.

"I've got to get back on rounds, I just thought I should let you know right away," Patrick said.

"Thanks, Patrick," Tiffany said as he walked away. "How are we going to be able to tell Scotty that?"

"Sometimes there's no easy way, you just have to do it," Maren said mournfully.

"He needs to know now, with Ellie in surgery and all," Sean said. "I'll call his law firm, see if I can get a hold of him."

Sean goes to make his phone call. Maren and Tiffany sit down with the baby.

"That was a shock," Tiffany said.

"At least we can prove it wasn't Dad once and for all," Maren said.

"I wasn't worried about it," Tiffany said honestly.

"I know you weren't," Maren said. "I still have so much to learn from you, Mom."

"Not too old?" Tiffany asked, playing with the small tufts of Zach's hair.

"Never. I think the past few days prove that out," Maren said.

"Which reminds me, sweetheart ... engaged?" Tiffany said. "Do you want to tell me every last little detail?"

"Well, maybe not every single detail," Maren blushed. "But Royce asked me to marry him. He said he'd wait - until I finished college, until I did whatever it was I wanted to do. That man is always willing to wait for me."

"But he doesn't have to," Tiffany smiled.

"No," her daughter said. "Whatever I'm going to do, I want him right by my side and I want to be right by his."

"Exactly how it should be," Tiff said. "Now let me see that rock."

Maren presents her hand so her mother can study the diamond.

"Wow, it's simple and refined," she said. "It's beautiful. Did your heart leap out of your chest when you saw it?" Maren nodded. "So did mine." Tiffany looked down at her own engagement ring. "Seems like so long ago. I can't remember my life without him."

"I'm really looking forward to saying that one day," Maren said.

Sean comes back to them. "Service wouldn't give me his number, which is understandable," he said. "Left a message about an emergency at General Hospital. Didn't really go into specifics."

"That's probably best," Tiffany said.

Royce approaches the group. Previously glowing Maren started beaming even more than she had been. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," he said hesitantly, wary of her father.

"Hi Royce," Tiffany said brightly.

"Stanton," Sean said. He took a pause. "Royce." He offered his hand.

Royce looked at Maren, who smiled brightly again, and shook Sean's hand.

"You're not fired," Sean said.

"Thank you, sir," Royce said.

"Of course I can rethink that if you keep calling me 'sir'," Sean teased.

"I have some news, hon," Maren said. "I'd like you to meet your godson, Zach."

"My godson?" Royce said. "Today is a day for surprises all right."

"Well, these things often come in threes," Sean said.

"What's that mean?" Royce asked.

"The biggest surprise of all," Maren said. "Zach's father is Scott Baldwin."

"The attorney?" Royce asked. "I didn't realize they..."

"No one did," Maren said.

"But he's out of town," Royce said.

"We're trying to get a hold of him right now," Sean said.

"That's going to be some shocking news for him," Royce said.

"A lot of that going around," Sean said, the bitterness unintentionally creeping into his voice.

"Sean," Tiffany said, worried about the direction the conversation was going in.

"Do you want to go clear the air?" Royce asked.

"Royce," Maren said, in the same tone her mother had just used.

"While everything else is on hold, it might be a good idea," Sean said.

"Fine," Royce said, not backing down.

Maren and Tiffany looked at each other. Maren gave her mother the baby and ran out in the direction of Royce and Sean.

Outside the two men in the world who loved Maren most in the world stared each other down. Finally Sean broke the connection, sitting down on the corner of the bench.

"This will make a lot more sense to you someday," Sean said. "Is it wrong to kind of be looking forward to that?"

Royce half-smiled and sat down as well. "No. I don't blame you. I knew how it was going to play out. Maren's age, my background, I wasn't exactly expecting the red carpet treatment."

"I think my wife might be right. I'm not sure anyone would have been acceptable to me," Sean admitted.

"I really do treasure Maren," Royce said.

"I know that feeling," Sean said.

"Her mother," Royce replied. "I see the way the two of you are together. It's my biggest hope for my marriage. And this kind of happened in reverse order, but I'd like to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."

"When do you want to get married?" Sean asked.

"On her 17th birthday," Royce said.

"18th," Sean responded quickly.

"17-and-a-half!" Maren yelled from behind a nearby bush.

"Deal," Sean said. He and Royce shook hands. Maren jumped out and hugged them both vigorously.


	86. Chapter 86

Hours later, Ellie was wheeled back into her room. Noah walked up to the Donelys.

"I think it went pretty well," Noah said. "As you know, it's difficult to tell definitively right now. I think I cleared the aneurysm out, but there is the chance it could recur, flare up and be an ongoing problem. We'll have to wait and see."

Tiffany and the others nodded. "Can we go in and see her?"

"Maybe one visitor would be all right, but then she needs her rest," he said.

"Who's going to go?" Tiffany asked her family. "Maren?"

"She might ask about Zach's father," Maren said.

"She probably will," Tiff replied.

"You go, sweetheart," Sean said, handing Zach over to her. "I think you can sneak this one in without getting in trouble for breaking the one-person rule."

Tiffany goes into Ellie's room with Zach in her arms. Ellie's dozing, so Tiffany just sits in the chair and rocks her son back and forth. Outside, Scott Baldwin is approaching the group.

"Looks like we're not quite off the hook," Maren said.

"Scotty, it's good to see you," Sean said.

"I just got pulled away from my daughter and called here on some kind of emergency, so can we skip the pleasantries? Why don't you just tell me why the hell I'm here," Scott said.

"Very well," Sean said, leading him over from the hallway into the lounge area. "Apparently you know my assistant pretty well."

"Ellie? Yeah, so?"

"So, you haven't watched a lot of television or read a lot of newspapers lately?" Sean asked.

"No, my daughter's needed my full attention," Scott said.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I hope she's all right," Sean said.

"She's doing fine now. What's this about?"

"As there's no easy way to say this, I'm just going to state it outright," Sean said. "Ellie just had your baby."

The news literally blows Scott backwards. He falls back onto the couch in the lounge. "What ... how ... why am I just hearing about this now?"

Sean clenches his hands. "She didn't remember," he said.

"Didn't remember what?" Scott said.

"Didn't remember your relationship," Sean said.

"Amnesia?"

"Not really. She had an aneurysm. For all intents and purposes, it repressed some memories while creating some that weren't actually true."

"I do not understand what you're saying at all, and I've heard lots of double-speak in my day," Scott said.

"She was convinced I was the one she was having the relationship with," Sean said.

"So it might be your baby," Scott said.

"No, it isn't," Sean said. "There was nothing like that going on between her and myself."

"And you expect me to believe that? Wasn't I your lawyer in the Jessica Holmes murder trial?" Scott asked.

"Look Scott, enough of the pussyfooting around. The hospital did a paternity test. You are the match. You are Zach's father," Sean said.

"Zach," Scott said plainly.

"The name on his birth certificate is Zachary Paul Atwood," Sean said. "Your name will be added to that as soon as possible."

In Ellie's room, the news is coming as just a big of a shock to her.

"How could I not remember?" she said drowsily.

"Maybe you will soon," Tiffany said comfortingly. "I know when I had amnesia, things seemed to be so far out of my grasp. I just couldn't get to the memories. And then when I did remember them, everything sort of fit like a puzzle. We shouldn't even be talking about this now. I think Zach just wanted to see you. He's been great all day, very little fuss, but he knew something was missing. Children are amazing that way."

Tiffany brings Ellie over to Zach. She smiles down at him and kisses his forehead.

"I just don't get how I could have been that wrong," Ellie said, shaking her head. "It's not like Sean and Scott look alike or anything."

"That's not what it was about," Tiffany said. "Your visions were manifestations of a lot of things, not the least of which was constant contact with my family and all the traumas we had been through lately. Anyway, we can talk more about this tomorrow or whenever you're feeling better. I just thought you deserved to know."

"Thanks," Ellie said weakly, caressing her son's head before Tiffany took him out of the room.

Scott waited until everyone had left for the night before entering Ellie's room.

"Hello, dear," he said.

"Mr. Baldwin," Ellie said.

"Kinda formal, don't you think, given the circumstances?"

"I don't remember any of that," she said.

"In my profession, I've heard that excuse about a million times, and I don't think I've ever believed it less," he said.

"You can talk to my doctor."

"And he's going to tell me that I could have been in bed with you ... for weeks ... without you knowing who I really was."

"Aneurysm," she said weakly.

"Brain damage. You don't remember any of it?"

"Apparently I do recall some things, I just don't remember you specifically saying them."

"Or doing them."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"'Sorry you had my baby,' maybe they can make that a Hallmark card," Scott said.

Noah enters the room. "Visiting hours are over, Scotty. And even if they weren't, I don't think she's up to this particular visit right now."

"She better get up to it and soon," Scott said as he left the room.

"You all right?" Noah asks his patient.

She nods, looking at the door Scott just exited out of.


	87. Chapter 87

As Ellie's condition improved over the next few weeks, so did her desire to get out on her own. She hadn't remembered any of her relationship with Scott, so she felt uncomfortable by his attempts to see and her Zach. Sean eventually brought her back to her apartment with her son.

"Thanks, Sean," she said. "I know I've said a million times how much I appreciate what you've done for me and Zachy, but it still doesn't seem to be enough."

"It's enough," Sean said warmly. "I'm glad you're feeling better. And it's wonderful that both of you have a clean bill of health."

"After all this time ... how am I supposed to live without the oddball visions of you and your wife in my head?" she joked.

"Well, we're always around with some kind of dramatic event going on in our lives, so I doubt you'll have to," Sean said.

"Speaking of that, how are things between you and your future son-in-law, if I may ask?"

"You may. They're ... fine. Borderline cordial."

"That good. I think it'll all work out. You all love Maren. And she loves and needs all of you."

Sean bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah. So, why don't you I leave you and your son alone to your bonding?" Ellie opens her mouth to say thanks again. "And don't say it."

He opens the door. Scott's standing in the doorway. The baby starts crying. Ellie moves to pick him up.

"You want me to stay?" Sean asked.

"We're fine," Ellie said, then quickly added thanks. "Got ya."

"I'll check in on you later," Sean said, passing by Scott and closing the door behind him.

"You've been avoiding me," Scott said.

"I really haven't. Just recuperating. Learning how to take care of a newborn and all that," Ellie said.

"How is he?" Scott asked.

"He's fine. He's great. He's actually a really good baby apparently, sleeps pretty much through the night, which I hear is rare."

"Yeah, it is. May I?" Scott gestures to his son. Ellie hesitates for a split second and then hands him to his father. The baby nestles into him quickly and quiets down.

"I guess we need to talk about how we're going to handle custody," Scott said after a few minutes.

"I hadn't thought about it."

"Well, you're going to have to. He's my child too."

"And you want what? To share custody?"

"I'd like to," Scott said. "He is my only son."

Ellie mulls that over in her head. She turns around to face him. "I guess that's fair."

"So how have you been? I didn't hear all the particulars, but it couldn't have been easy dealing with that aneurysm through your whole pregnancy."

"Modern medicine performs miracles, I guess. Well, they couldn't do anything at first, but once I gave birth, Dr. Drake did his thing. I'll have to go back for checkups and the like, but it's a miracle. Not quite the one everyone was expecting, I think."

"I didn't know about it at the time, but I've heard how you were hounded around Christmas," Scott said.

"Yeah, the third coming and all that," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"You're a very strong woman," he said. "I didn't know that about you either when we..."

"...were involved," she finished. "I ... still don't remember that really. I get these flashes though. A glimmer of something. So can I ask you something now?"

"Shoot."

"When you were called back to Port Charles, did I cross your mind at all?" she asked.

"You did. I didn't think we would be able to pick up where we left off because I was away for so long without any contact. But I was ... going to call."

Ellie laughed at that. "You don't have to say that to spare my feelings."

"I didn't," Scott said. "We didn't really know each other too well then."

"I guess now that we're Zach's parents we probably should take the time to do that," she said.

"Probably a good idea," he said.

Zach started crying again. "Don't take it personal, it's time for him to be fed," Ellie said.

"I guess I should go then," Scott said.

"If you don't mind. I'm not that comfortable with you yet to have you here when I have to feed him," Ellie said.

"OK. We'll talk later. I'll call you after Sean does," he joked.

"OK, thanks," Ellie said and watched Scott exit and close the door behind him. "I think you have just enough time for a light lunch, Zachy," she added.

Scott rang the doorbell at the Donelys. Sean opened it.

"We have to stop meeting like this," he said.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Sean?"

"Of course. This about Ellie and Zach?"

"Yes."

"Come in," he said, gesturing for Scott to walk in. He did. Tiffany, wedding magazine in hand, descended the stairs.

"Hello, Scotty."

"Tiffany."

"Everything all right?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Scott said. "If I could cut to the chase, I guess I'd say I'm not entirely sure how to read Ellie."

"What did she say to you?" Sean asked.

"All the right things. She'll share custody, get to know me, everything I would have wanted to hear."

"So what's the problem?" Tiffany queried.

Scott thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. It seemed half-hearted."

"Scott, she doesn't really know you," Tiffany said. "You have to give her a chance. She's got a lot to get used to - being well for the first time in many years and a new baby, there are going to be adjustments.

"I know. I just got this feeling."

"You're a pretty good lawyer," Sean said. "What were you sensing?"

"That she's going to run."

Sean ran his hand across the back of his neck thoughtfully. "Maybe we shouldn't take the chance," he said.

"I'm going too," Tiffany said, dropping the magazine on the couch. They rushed out.

Ellie, on the phone, finished writing down some information on a pad and hung up. She put Zach into his baby pouch and lifted it across her chest. She reached down for her backpack, staring at the bed. A vision of her with Sean crossed her mind, it melded into a vision of her with Scott. She shook it off, picked up the backpack, looked over the room once more and exited.

Fifteen minutes later, Sean, Tiffany and Scott were in her room.

"Chalk up one for Mr. Baldwin's hunches," Sean said. "Honey, look around for some sign of where she might have gone."

Scott was looking over at the bed, now he was having a flashback himself of a night he huddled with Ellie there. The heat had been out, he was making a joke about keeping them both warm.

Tiffany crossed to Sean with the pad she found by the phone, she had already used a pencil to shade the indentations of the paper. "Good work, sweetheart," Sean said. "Scott! Bus station."

Scott shook himself away from the vision and they ran out of the apartment.

At the bus station, Ellie looked up at the clock. Five minutes until they began boarding. She carried Zach into the women's restroom for one last change.

Ten minutes later, the Donelys and Scott had arrived. Scott raced around the waiting room looking for Ellie and his son. Sean went to the ticket agent, giving a detailed description of them. He left the booth hanging his head.

"Sean, the New York bus just left five minutes ago," Tiffany said, running to meet them.

"I know. She was on it," he said.

"We'll never find her in New York," Scott said.

"Of course we will. She'll have to take Zach to the doctor. We'll find her, bring her back," Sean said.

"I don't think you'll need to," Tiffany said, looking up.

"What do you mean?" Sean questioned, until he followed his wife's gaze. Scott looked up too. Ellie had just come out of the bathroom with Zach in tow.

"I'm glad you couldn't do it," Sean said after a long pause.

"I would have contacted you ... eventually," Ellie said to them. "Then I remembered who I was dealing with. Best detectives in the world. ... And it just felt wrong."

"It's because you're family," Tiff said. "You belong with us."

"But I almost destroyed your family," Ellie said.

"Like I told you earlier, never a dull moment," Sean winked.

"Sorry," Ellie said. She took Zach out of her carrier pouch and handed him to his father. "Maybe I'm not doing as well as I thought I was."

"You're doing fine," Scott said. "I'm glad you stuck around. We'll figure this out."

Scott cradles his son. Sean and Tiffany pull Ellie in to an embrace.


	88. Chapter 88

And it came to pass on Maren's 17th-and-a-half birthday she was to marry Royce. The Donely household was a frenetic beehive of activity that morning as they prepared for the big event.

"Where's my bowtie? Where's my bowtie?" Sean asked.

Tiffany smiled at him knowingly, planting a kiss on his lips. "Honey. Calm down. It's around your neck."

"Oh yeah, I put it there so I wouldn't lose it," he said.

Tiffany chuckled at her husband. "You're too much."

"And you're too calm? What is this? Some kind of freaky body-switching movie?" he asked.

"Do you want a drink, honey? Then again, maybe not. You are going to need to walk her down the aisle in a straight line."

"Oh, good lord," Sean said, not enjoying the prospect of having to hand over his daughter. Tiffany poured him a stiff drink, put it in his hand and helped him raise it to his mouth. When she was confident he could handle the rest, she ascended the stairs to her daughter's room.

She tapped lightly on the door. "Come in, Mom," Maren said. Tiffany entered the room, her daughter was facing the mirror and they locked eyes in it.

"You know, I think we're the only two calm people around here," Tiffany said. "That's a little unusual."

"So, what do you think?" her daughter asked, feeling confident but wanting her approval anyway.

Tiffany came up behind Maren and encircled her daughter's waist with her hands, smoothing out her dress. They continued to look at each other in the mirror, Maren almost imploring her to say something specific. Tiffany winked and smiled broadly at her daughter.

"How do you always know?" Maren said.

"I swear it really is like looking into this mirror," Tiffany said. "I know what things looked like on me, so when I see them in you, I know exactly what you're thinking."

Heavy knocks on Maren's door ensued.

"Come in, Dad," she said.

Sean slowly opened the door, almost afraid of what he was going to see. "Oh, lord," he said.

"What's wrong?" Maren asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Sean said. "You are ravishing. But then again, gorgeous brides are kind of a tradition in this family." He reached his arm out to his wife, who caressed his hand in appreciation.

"Let's get this show on the road," Maren said excitedly.

"Now you're sure," Sean said.

"Dad!"

"You're sure that you're sure? Because you can back out. I don't mind eating the cost of this wedding and the reception if you have any doubts."

"Daddy!" She pulled him toward the door.

Sean looked back at his wife and smirked. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

The Donelys got into a long stretch limo that headed for the church. They arrived just as Ellie, Zach and Scott did.

"It's good to see you three together," Tiffany said.

Ellie nodded. "Maren, you're a vision. Uh no, what I meant to say was, you look absolutely gorgeous. Sorry, Freudian slip."

"Thanks, Ellie. I'm so glad you're here. And Zach ... and Mr. Baldwin too."

Ellie and Scott headed inside with Maren. The Donelys entered through the church doors and held hands with each other as they awaited the start of the ceremony.

"Maren, we'll always be here for you and Royce," Tiffany said. "I know you're starting your own life and you're going to want to do things for yourself, but we'll be here when you need us."

"Mom, don't make me cry, I finally got my makeup right," Maren chided.

"Just don't hesitate to come to us, squirt," Sean said.

"Daddy, you haven't called me that in ages." She took a deep breath. "I kind of like it. And I will always need you both."

"I guess I better go take my seat," Tiffany said, tears welling in her eyes.

"Here, honey," Sean said, pulling three handkerchiefs from his pocket. "I stocked up for the occasion."

Tiffany kissed her husband and her daughter and was led down the aisle by Conner to her seat. She winked at Royce when she got there.

The organist started to play "Here Comes the Bride" and the congregation stood up. Tiff was already sniffing as Sean and Maren walked toward her in perfect symmetry. When they got to Royce, Sean pulled the veil back on Maren's head and kissed both her cheeks. "I love you, precious girl," he said. Maren mouthed "I love you" back to him.

Sean held her hand out to Royce. "You hurt her and I will break you in at least two pieces," he said under his breath.

"I understand, sir," Royce said, gently taking Maren's hand in his own. She couldn't breathe, she was so overwhelmed.

"Who gives this woman to be married?" the minister asked.

"Her mother and I do," Sean said and sat down next to Tiffany, who rolled her eyes at him for the comment she heard him make to Royce. He took hold of the hand that wasn't currently clutching a handkerchief. Tiffany's breath caught like her daughter's had. She chuckled at herself for still having such a strong reaction to her husband's touch. He looked at her sideways and raised his eyebrow.

Unlike her parents, Maren and Royce were married without incident. They had a fabulous reception with singing and dancing. Scott and Ellie continued to bond, although awkwardly, over their son. He even took her home early when Zach started to fuss. And before anyone knew it, the day was over.

"You're too beautiful," Royce said as the limo door slammed to a close with the newlyweds inside. "I swear I'm going to get you pregnant in here."

"That's very romantic, honey," Maren said. "Unfortunately it's not possible."

"Oh, it's possible all right. And probable."

"Uh uh," she chided, pulling him against her so she could whisper in his ear. "Because I'm already with child."

"You're what? You're pregnant?" Royce said, staring at her with complete awe. "Your father is going to _kill _me!"

"Probably," Maren smirked, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt with complete desire in her eyes.

Later in the Donelys bedroom, Sean was filled in on the news.

"I'll _kill _him!" he blared.

In the bathroom, Tiffany just ignored that sentiment as she prepared her own little surprise for her husband. "Honey, can I ask you a question? Not really related. Well, maybe a little." She appeared in a long, flowing translucent nightgown that matched her skin. "Tell me, does this scream 'grandmother' to you?"

Sean was transfixed. He shook his head and chuckled. "'Grandmother?' Uh, no, not screaming 'grandmother' by any stretch of the imagination. What I'm hearing right now is 'Rip me off her right now.'"

He got up from the bed and moved to his wife slowly. He enveloped her in his arms, running his hands first along the curves of her nightgown and then along her skin, raising goosebumps like he has always did.

"No, not thinking 'grandmother' in the least little bit. 'Flesh and blood woman,' yes," he said. He directed both of them backwards so they were leaning on the bed. "The woman I married ... I would know you anywhere." He bent his head so he could kiss her along the jawline. "A little firecracker named Elsie Mae Crumholtz." He lifted his lips so they brushed against her own and pulled her back with him on the bed like they had done a million times before.


End file.
